Studded tyres wear surfaces of winter roads, generating inhalable airborne particles. In this study, four concrete road materials and two stud geometries were investigated in terms of wear, road material hardness and airborne particle concentration. The sliding contact between studded tyres and road materials was studied using a pin-on-disc machine in a clean chamber. The results show that the normal load and the stud size have a large influence on the wear and particle emission. It was found that the wear and particle concentration are inversely proportional to the hardness of the aggregate in the road material and proportional to the sliding distance. The particle size distribution has peaks at 0.2 µm, 1 µm and 2 µm. 

In this article we conduct an overview of various types of thermal contact conditions at the sliding interface. We formulate a problem of non-stationary heat conduction in two sliding layers with generalized thermal contact conditions allowing for dependence of the heat-generation coefficient and contact heat transfer coefficient on time. We then derive an analytical solution of the problem by constructing a special coordinate integral transform. In contrast to the commonly used transforms, e.g. Laplace or Fourier transforms, the one proposed is applicable to a product of two functions dependent on time. The solution is validated by a series of test problems with parameters corresponding to those of real tribosystems. Analysis shows an essential influence of both time-dependent heat-generation coefficient and contact heat transfer coefficient on the partition of the friction heat between the layers. The solution can be used for simulating temperature fields in sliding components with account of this influence.

The instability of sliding causes deterioration of performance characteristics of tribosystems and is undesired. To predict its occurrence, the motion of a body of a one-degree-of-freedom system with friction is investigated about the steady sliding equilibrium position. The motion equation is formulated with the friction coefficient dependent on the sliding velocity and contact temperature changing due to transient heat conduction in the body. An analytical expression for the body motion is derived using the Laplace integral transform. It is shown that the sliding instability can manifest in the form of deviation of the body from the equilibrium position or in the form of oscillation. The instability conditions containing the friction–velocity and friction–temperature slope coefficients are obtained. Positive friction–temperature slope results in the deviation of the body from the equilibrium position. At negative friction–temperature slope, both types of the sliding instability can occur. The proposed instability conditions agree well with existing theoretical concepts and can be useful when designing tribosystems.

The emission of airborne wear particles from friction material / cast iron pairs used in car brakes was investigated, paying special attention to the influence of temperature. Five low-metallic materials and one non-asbestos organic material were tested using a pin-on-disc machine. The machine was placed in a sealed chamber to allow airborne particle collection. The concentration and size distribution of 0.0056 to 10 μm particles were obtained by a fast mobility particle sizer and an optical particle sizer. The temperature was measured by a thermocouple installed in the disc. The experiments show that as the temperature increases from 100 to 300 °C the emission of ultrafine particles intensifies while that of coarse particles decreases. There is a critical temperature at which the ultrafine particle emission rate rises stepwise by 4 to 6 orders of magnitude. For the friction pairs investigated, the critical temperature was found to be between 165 and 190 °C. Below the critical temperature, fine particles outnumber coarse and ultrafine particles, although coarse particles make up the bulk of the particulate matter mass. The friction pairs differ in the ultrafine particle emission rate by 1 to 2 orders of magnitude. Above the critical temperature, ultrafine particles constitute almost 100% of the total particle number and their relative mass contribution can exceed 50%. Analysis of the particle size distributions revealed peaks at 0.19-0.29, 0.9 and 1.7 μm. Above the critical temperature, one more peak appears in the ultrafine particle range at 0.011-0.034 μm.

Friction-induced oscillations result in deterioration of performance of disc brakes and are generally undesired. We conduct experimental study of friction-induced oscillations in a non-asbestos organic material/steel pair used in disc brakes of motor vehicles. The tests are done by use of a pin-on-disc machine in which the pin sample is supported on a deformable beam. The adjustable friction parameters are the disc velocity, contact pressure and temperature. The tests show that the friction coefficient decreases with the sliding velocity and increases with the temperature. The friction-induced tangential oscillation of the pin sample occurs with a frequency equal to the first natural frequency of the beam. The effects of the disc velocity and temperature on the oscillation characteristics are investigated. The oscillation amplitude increases with the disc velocity on the interval of velocities below 2 m/s. Temperature changes of several tens of degrees Celsius lead to the oscillation occurrence/decay. The obtained results can be useful for prognostication of friction-induced oscillations in disc brakes with non-asbestos organic pads.

This paper is devoted to experimental study of capabilities and limitations of grindable thermocouples as applied to polymer materials sliding on metal. Chromel-alumel and chromel-copel grindable thermocouples have been developed and tested for wide ranges of contact pressure and sliding velocity. The background temperature of the sliding surface can be determined as the lower envelope of the signal from the grindable thermocouple. Steady and unsteady regimes of sliding have been investigated. For steady sliding, the accuracy of the temperature determination increases with measurement duration. In the case of unsteady sliding, accurate temperature determination requires multiple tests under the same conditions. The thickness of the thermocouple junction has been analyzed for correct comparison of experimental and calculated temperatures.

Analytical expressions of heat-partition coefficient and contact temperatures for two sliding semispaces with account for adhesion-deformational heat generation and contact heat exchange have been obtained. The rate of deformational heat generation is assumed to decay exponentially with increase of distance from the interface. It has been shown that heat-generation configuration and the intensity of contact heat exchange have impact on heat partition only within a transient interval. The features of perfect thermal contact have been analyzed. Perfect thermal contact implies variation of heat partition in time. Heat partition and contact temperature for a semispace, sliding over a semispace with a constant temperature, have been studied. Adhesion-deformational heat generation results in a change of the direction of surface heat flow.

Analytical study on oscillations of a body on a moving counterbody has been done by assuming imperfect frictional thermal contact and friction that decreases with contact temperature. It has been shown that stick-slip oscillation occurs due to decrease of friction coefficient when the body moves in the opposite direction to the counterbody. Dynamical characteristics, such as conditions for stable sliding and limit cycles, have been studied. Normal force between the bodies has significant effect on sliding stability.