A novel method for contact analysis of rubber and various surfaces using micro-computerized-tomography.pdfVIP

Polymer Testing 53 (2016) 132e142 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Polymer Testing journal homepage: /locate/polytest Test method A novel method for contact analysis of rubber and various surfaces using micro-computerized-tomography Andras Kriston a, b, Tibor Fülo€p a, Nihat Ali Isitman a, *, Ondrej Kotecky a, Ari J. Tuononen b a Goodyear S.A. Colmar-Berg, L-7750, Luxembourg b Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo, 00076, Finland article info Article history: Received 5 April 2016 Accepted 21 May 2016 Available online 24 May 2016 Keywords: Contact Micro-computerized-tomography Rubber Image analysis abstract The experimental analysis of the contact state in a tribosystem is of great importance in the study of contact mechanics. In order to make a realistic analysis on the micro scale, it is desirable to keep the tribosystem unperturbed, i.e., without any surface treatment or incorporation of a third body to facilitate the analysis. This study presents the use of a novel technique, micro-computerized tomography (microCT), in the investigation of contact between rubber compounds and various counter-surfaces. The goal of this study was to further advance the use of micro-CT in contact mechanics. Speci?c image analysis techniques were developed in order to process micro-CT images of contact pairs formed by rubber compounds of different hardness levels against counter-surfaces with varying surface roughness and mechanical properties. The micro-CT method has been shown to allow the direct visualization and precise quanti?cation of the real area of contact without altering the original characteristics of the contact pair. ? 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The Real Area of Contact (RAC) is a widely used characteristic in tribology. Although other, more readily accessible measures such as the nominal or apparent contact area are also popular, they are often not suf?cient to fully describe real tribosystems. Practicall