Influence of 'off-contact' electric potential on frictional behaviour of an agate-brass (SiO2-Cu) rubbing couple

H. Jiang, P. L. Wong, Y. Meng

    Research output: Journal Publications and ReviewsRGC 21 - Publication in refereed journalpeer-review

    5 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    The effect of 'off-contact' electric potentials on the frictional behavior of an agate-brass rubbing couple was investigated using a commercial pin-on-disc wear machine. The electric field was set to cover a large portion of the disc surface area but excluding the agate ball and brass contact. This is referred to as the 'off-contact' potential. A suspension of 1 wt% zinc stearate powder dispersed in deionized water was adopted as a lubricant in the experiments. Experimental results show that the coefficient of friction can be increased markedly by imposing a positive biased potential (disc with negative charge) when it exceeds a threshold value. For applying negative biased potentials, there are no obvious effects recorded. Furthermore, the amount of increase in the coefficient of friction by imposing a fixed potential decreases with an increase in the applied load and the sliding speed, but the decreasing rate gradually becomes smaller. Experimental results under a.c. potentials in the frequency range from 0.1 to 100 000 Hz were also presented and no obvious changes in the coefficient of friction for an agate-brass rubbing couple were observed.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)201-206
    JournalProceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part J: Journal of Engineering Tribology
    Volume215
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2001

    Research Keywords

    • Electric potential
    • Friction
    • Zinc stearate suspension

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Influence of 'off-contact' electric potential on frictional behaviour of an agate-brass (SiO2-Cu) rubbing couple'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this