[en] The friction-stir process (FSW) developed by England's TWI in the last decade is a new concept in solid phase friction welding that is particularly appropriate for soldering aluminum and its alloys. It offers interesting aspects and can advantageously replace the usual arch processes. It is an automatic process that solders together long pieces by butt or lap welding and, therefore, overcomes the greater limitation of the conventional friction process that can be applied only to pieces with revolution symmetry. FSW is based essentially on the use of a cylindrical tool with a special profile, which is inserted between the surfaces where the materials meet to join them together at a certain rotation speed and under a specific force. The pieces must be rigidly butt bonded or overlapped to prevent movement when the tool moves forward along the joint producing the dispersion of oxides, local plastisizing of the material and the weld. Since its creation FSW has been the subject of many international publications, but until the present work there was no technologically relevant data about tools and procedures. For this reason, when its promising and novel nature was noticed, the CNEA began its own development project in 1997. The main characteristics of the tool are reviewed here and the results of tests carried out to evaluate the influence of the feed velocity on the mechanical properties of the butt joining of a 6.25 mm thick AA6061 T6 plate. Different accumulated aspects of the experience are discussed as well (cw)

[en] The high cycle fatigue behaviour of friction stir welded AISi 10 Mg samples was investigated for a stress ratio R=0.1, ranging from 0.5 to 0.9 of the yield strength, in addition to tensile tests. The welds were produced with different tool rotation and travel speeds, and these welding parameters were correlated to residual stresses, measured by X-ray diffraction (sen''2Ψ method). Moreover, the residual stresses were measured during the fatigue testing, at fixed cycle intervals, being reported. It was observed that the residual (compressive)stresses within the nugget were smaller than in the interface regions (between the thermo-mechanically affected zone and the base metal) and stabilized above 4 x 10''5 cycles. Fatigue crack morphology and microstructural changes were characterized by optical and electron microscopy and the observations are discussed along with the fatigue results. (Author) 14 refs

[en] The friction and wear properties of mesocarbon microbeads-based graphite and siliconized graphite were investigated. At loads of 20–60 N, the graphite had low friction coefficient (0.15–0.26), while had high wear rate (0.039–0.50 × 10⁻³ mm³/m). Siliconized graphite had higher friction coefficient (0.375–0.40), while at higher loads of 40 N and 60 N, it had lower wear rates (0.15 and 0.18 × 10⁻³ mm³/m respectively). The main wear of ploughing resulted in low wear rate for siliconized graphite

[en] Two new models are proposed to determine the adhesion energy be means of the internal friction technique (IF) in thin films layered materials. for the first method is necessary to determine enthalpy by means of the IF technique, for which the adhesion work has been determined with experimental data. In the second method are necessary to perform IF tests at constant temperature. (Author)

No abstract available

[en] We present friction characteristics of sliding textured silicon surfaces at the submicrometre scale. A two-dimensional submicrometre dimple array on the Si surface is fabricated by femtosecond laser processing. Direct femtosecond laser nano-structuring of the Si (1 0 0) substrate by polystyrene particle-assisted near-field enhancement is used. In the investigated hole diameter domain from 229 to 548 nm, an increase in the friction coefficient with the decrease in the hole size is found experimentally. The fabricated submicrometre dimples act evidently as lubricant reservoirs to supply lubricants and traps to capture wear debris. The fluctuation of the friction coefficient is also increased by reducing the dimple size. The lowest friction coefficient of 1.41 x 10^-2 is achieved with the dimple array having a diameter of about 550 nm. This value is 2.6 times lower than that of non-structured substrates

[en] The squeal noise generated from a disk brake or chatter occurred in a machine tool primarily results from friction-induced vibration. Since friction-induced vibration is usually accompanied by abrasion and lifespan reduction of mechanical parts, it is necessary to develop a reliable analysis model by which friction-induced vibration phenomena can be accurately analyzed. The original Coulomb's friction model or the modified Coulomb friction model employed in most commercial programs employs deterministic friction coefficients. However, observing friction phenomena between two contact surfaces, one may observe that friction coefficients keep changing due to the unevenness of contact surface, temperature, lubrication and humidity. Therefore, in this study, friction coefficients are modeled as random parameters that keep changing during the motion of a mechanical system undergoing friction force. The integrity of the proposed stochastic friction model was validated by comparing the analysis results obtained by the proposed model with experimental results.

[en] Some molybdenum complexes were synthesized and described especially with respect to both friction and wear reduction. The use of these substances is discussed with due consideration of the influence of higher temperatures and the increase in critical load. Complexes containing a maximum number of sulfur atoms proved to be most effective. (author)

[en] The effect of various process parameters for determining extrusion load has been studied for square to square extrusion of Al-6061 alloy, a most used aluminium alloy series in forming industries. Parameters like operating temperature, friction condition, ram velocity, extrusion ratio and die length have been chosen as an input variable for the above study. Twenty five combinations of parameters were set for the investigation by considering aforementioned five parameters in five levels. The simulations have been carried out by Deform-3D software for predicting maximum load requirement for the complete extrusion process. Effective stress and strain distribution across the billet has been checked. Operating temperature, extrusion ratio, friction factor, ram velocity and die length have the significant effect in decreasing order on the maximum load requirement. (paper)

[en] The standard methods of reliability analysis can only be applied if valid failure statistics are available. In a developing technology the statistics which have been accumulated, over many years of conventional experience, are often rendered useless by environmental effects. Thus new data, which take account of the new environment, are required. This paper discusses the problem of optimizing the acquisition of these data when time-scales and resources are limited. It is concluded that the most fruitful strategy in assessing the reliability of mechanisms is to study the failures of individual joints whilst developing, where necessary, analytical tools to facilitate the use of these data. The approach is illustrated by examples from the field of tribology. Failures of rolling element bearings in moist, high-pressure carbon dioxide illustrate the important effects of apparently minor changes in the environment. New analytical techniques are developed from a study of friction failures in sliding joints. (author)