Thermal Analysis of a Medium-Carbon Steel Tribo-System and Its Application to Oxidational Wear

Abstract

Wear behavior of AISI 1045 carbon steel has been studied on a washer-on-disk wear machine at bulk disks temperatures of 25°C and 200°C. An analytical approach to the temperature solutions was developed in terms of a parabolic temperature polynomial for the frictional contact area; the maximum contact temperature Tc is thus obtained by using several measured temperatures as boundary conditions. The tribological properties of carbon steel in sliding contact were studied to investigate the oxidational wear rate associated with the tribo-chemical reaction arising on the worn surface due to frictional heating. A theoretical approach to predict the oxidational wear rate of this carbon steel at 25°C and 200°C was also established.