Wear and Lubrication Behaviors of Cu-Based Friction Pairs with Asperity Contacts: Numerical and Experimental Studies

This paper aims to investigate the wear and lubrication behaviors of wet Cu-based friction pairs. A mixed lubrication model in plane contacts is developed, and the tests of pin-on-disk are carried out. Wear losses are measured by the oil spectrum analysis method. The wear loss, the real contact area ratio, and the load sharing ratio are analyzed. Effects of sliding velocity, temperature, and pressure are considered. The results show that the temperature is the most significant influence on the wear loss of lubricated Cu-based friction pairs. As the temperature rises from 30 to 150 °C, wear loss increases from less than 0.4 mg to about 2.3 mg. The wear factor of the lubricated Cu-based friction pair in asperity contact areas is K_c= 9.4 × 10 ^{- 9} (g/Nm). When the lubricated wear is slight, the oil spectrum analysis method is an effective approach to accurately determine the wear loss.