Method for Determining the Influence of Surface Treatments on the Tribological Properties of Bodies in Rolling Contact

This paper presents an experimental method to assess the impact of surface treatment on the contact surfaces of bodies during pure rolling. The focus is on the number of cycles until mechanical damage occurs and rolling resistance. The tribological properties in the rolling contact of two bodies can be enhanced by applying a suitable surface treatment to the contact surface of one of the bodies that constitute the rolling pair or the general kinematic pair. For the purpose of testing, the samples contact surface was provided to a mechanochemical surface treatment known as Triboconditioning® CG developed by Tribonex AB. Mechanochemical surface treatments have been demonstrated to reduce friction and wear of components in sliding contact, particularly under mixed lubrication conditions. However, they have not yet been considered for optimizing the rolling resistance of roller bearings. This paper documents for the first time the effect of surface conditioning on lifetime and efficiency under typical loading conditions. The experiments aim to determine the number of cycles until the contact surface is damaged and the power consumption of the test device, depending on the contact area treated with the appropriate surface treatment in comparison to an untreated surface. The principle of the tests consists of the rolling of the cylindrical specimen between three loading discs. One of these discs is driven by an electric motor, which also applies a loading force.