Experimental Investigation on Friction and Wear Properties of Different Steel Materials

Friction coefficient and wear rate of different steel materials are investigated and compared in this study. In order to do so, a pin on disc apparatus is designed and fabricated. Experiments are carried out when different types of disc materials such as stainless steel 314 (SS 314), stainless steel 202 (SS 202) and mild steel slide against stainless steel 314 (SS 314) pin. Experiments are conducted at normal load 10, 15 and 20 N, sliding velocity 1, 1.5 and 2 m/s and relative humidity 70%. At different normal loads and sliding velocities, variations of friction coefficient with the duration of rubbing are investigated. The obtained results show that friction coefficient varies with duration of rubbing, normal load and sliding velocity. In general, friction coefficient increases for a certain duration of rubbing and after that it remains constant for the rest of the experimental time. The obtained results reveal that friction coefficient decreases with the increase in normal load for all the tested materials. It is also found that friction coefficient increases with the increase in sliding velocity for all the materials investigated. Moreover, wear rate increases with the increase in normal load and sliding velocity for SS 314, SS 202 and mild steel. In addition, at identical operating condition, the magnitudes of friction coefficient and wear rate are different for different materials depending on sliding velocity and normal load.