Wear and Airborne Noise Interdependency at Asperitical Level: Analytical Modelling and Experimental Validation

Area of Science:

• Tribology
• Acoustics
• Materials Science

Background:

• Friction processes inevitably generate wear and airborne sound.
• Existing analytical models for wear and sound are limited, especially at the asperity level.
• Previous relationships between wear and sound were primarily determined experimentally.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a quantifiable, asperity-level analytical model relating wear and airborne sound generation.
• To establish a novel method for measuring wear using only sound pressure data.
• To validate the model's effectiveness across different materials and loads.

Main Methods:

• Development of a new analytical model for wear and sound generation at the asperity level.
• Experimental validation using a pin-on-disc setup with iron, mild steel, and aluminum T351.
• Testing under varying loads (10 N and 20 N) at a constant speed (300 RPM).

Main Results:

• The theoretical model demonstrated good correlation with experimental results for iron and aluminum (10-15% error).
• A larger discrepancy was observed for mild steel, suggesting areas for model refinement.
• The model successfully provides a first step towards quantifying wear from sound pressure.

Conclusions:

• The developed analytical model offers a promising approach to quantify wear using airborne sound.
• Experimental validation confirms the model's potential, with accuracy improvements possible through refined assumptions.
• This research opens new avenues for non-contact wear monitoring in tribological systems.