Friction induced heating properties of the polyamide/steel type contacts

The endurance and the life time of the mechanical transmissions are highly influenced by the functioning conditions and, not at least, by the materials that they are manufactured from. The increase of the endurance and functioning life time, corroborated with a friendly impact with the environment, is one of the main aims of the worldwide research areas of today. According to this, the development of new materials characterised by low costs and high endurance represents one of the solutions obtained by the specific scientific research. The paper investigates the friction induced heating properties of the polyamide/steel type contacts by considering dry friction conditions. It is studied the contact between a steel made pin and a PA46 and PTFE added PA46 polyamide made disk, under different testing conditions, depending on the rotational speed of the disk and the normal force, at the environmental temperature. The tests are achieved on a tribometer equipped with a pin-on-disc module and, as output, the friction coefficient is measured. Due to the friction is developed a heating of the local contact area. The heat is calculated according to the measured friction coefficient, the normal load and the relative sliding velocity. Finally there are given conclusions regarding the friction induced heating properties of the tested materials.