Materials Science, Vol. 37, No.

1, 2001

AN APPROACH TO EVALUATION OF WEAR OF FRICTION COUPLES

BY THE METHOD OF ACOUSTIC EMISSION

O. M. Belas UDC 621.891: 620.179.16

An experimental approach to the evaluation of the state of elements of a tribosystem by the method of
acoustic emission is presented. The efficiency of application of this method for studying the mechanical
and physicochemical processes in the surface layers of materials under friction is demonstrated. The re-
sults of the studies can be used for developing methods for nondestructive inspection of a tribosystem by
the method of acoustic emission at any moment of its functioning. This allows one to obtain a quantita-
tive estimate of the intensity of wear of a material from the dispersion of the probability density distribu-
tion of acoustic signals or their entropy combined with the loading force that leads to the initiation of
damage in the surface layers of materials under friction. The sharp change in the character of these de-
pendences testifies to the transition of a tribosystem from the normal type of wear to a pathological one.

Friction forces caused by the contact interaction of bodies give rise to irreversible changes in their sizes, deteri-
oration of their technical characteristics, etc. Therefore, it is essential to improve the wear resistance of friction units
and, in this way, to prolong the service life and reliability of structures, machines, and equipment. In solving this
problem, methods of nondestructive inspection and diagnostics of the processes of friction and wear occupy a con-
spicuous place. Among them, the method of acoustic emission (AE) [1, 2] is one of the most promising due to high
sensitivity, the possibility of remote selection of information, and absence of strict requirements on the form and di-
mensions of the object of inspection [3, 4].
We tried to estimate the state of friction units, in particular wear, by signals of acoustic emission and to deter-
mine the regularities of their amplitude distribution, namely, the relations between the dispersion of the statistical
distribution of the probability density of the amplitudes of signals of acoustic emission and the moment of origina-
tion of microdamages in the surface layers of friction bodies.
In the zone of friction contact, mechanical and physicochemical processes [5] are the sources of generation of
acoustic signals; therefore, it is practically impossible to perform their multiparameter analysis by using the signals
of acoustic emission. The amplitude distribution of the signals of acoustic emission bears information about the
energies of origination and development of micro- and macrocracks which appear in the materials of friction couples
and about the loss of their serviceability [3]. If we could determine the law of distribution of the amplitudes of sig-
nals during friction and wear, then it would be possible to determine the moment of intensive origination of damages
in materials and to estimate the reliability of operation of friction units by using the apparatus of probability theory
and mathematical statistics.
We studied normalized 45 steel under the conditions of boundary lubrication with MS-20 oil according to the
scheme of sliding friction “cylinder–cylinder” with the initial Hertzian contact along a line and the velocity of move-
ment v = 0.785 m / sec. The number of cycles was (1– 5) × 105. By using electron microscopy, we identified the
ranges of normal friction and critical points of origination of damages and acoustic signals. The system of selection
and processing of the signals of acoustic emission consisted of a primary piezoelectric converter of signals, a pream-
plifier, units for their processing based on the AF-15 device, an amplitude analyzer of type AI-4096, a wide-band
piezoelectric converter of type P 113-(0.02-0.2), and a personal computer, all connected in series. The lower bound-
ary of the filter of high frequencies was chosen equal to 20 kHz with the aim of eliminating background noises, the
spectra of which lie below it and mostly carry no information concerning the formation of cracks [3, 6]. The coeffi-
cient of amplification of the signals of acoustic emission was 96 dB. The piezoelectric converter was located on one
of the bodies of the friction couple [7]. We treated the amplitude distribution of acoustic signals with the use of a
Military Unit A-0251. Translated from Fizyko-Khimichna Mekhanika Materialiv, Vol. 37, No. 1, pp. 89 – 90, January – February, 2001.
Original article submitted February 18, 1999.

1068–820X/01/3701–0103 $25.00 © 2001 Plenum Publishing Corporation 103

104 O. M. BELAS

package of applied programs which were specially adapted for evaluation of the experimental distribution of the
probability density of the signal amplitudes. In addition, the software allowed us to analyze the frequency distribu-
tion of acoustic signals and, from their probabilistic parameters for a fiducial interval of 95%, to make approxima-
tions with the use of the theoretical laws of distribution [8, 9].

Fig. 1. Dependence of the intensity of wear (lower curve) and the dispersion of the statistical distribution of the probability density of
acoustic signals (upper curve) on the force of loading of the friction couple.

The dispersion of the probability density distribution can be taken as a criterion for evaluation of the state of a
tribosystem (see Fig. 1). This parameter was found to be sensitive to the change of the character of wear (the mo-
ment of the transition from the normal character to an inadmissible one). We found experimentally by the analysis
of the signals of acoustic emission and corresponding metallographic data that, during the transition to wear by
means of sticking together, the dispersion increases more than 50 times, while the appropriate intensity of wear in-
creases by 10 – 20% only.
In addition, we established the empirical dependence between the amplitude distribution of the signals of acous-
tic emission in the form of the entropy of acoustic emission of the tribosystem, H (AE), and the intensity of wear of
materials:

I = A + B H (AE). (1)

Here, A and B are empirical constants whose values are 0.329 and – 0.17, respectively, for an error of determin-
ing the intensity of wear equal to 10% and

n
H (AE) = − ∑ pi log2 pi , (2)
i =1

where pi is the probability of appearance of the amplitudes of acoustic signals in the i th channel of the analyzer, n
is the number of channels of the analyzer in which the signals of acoustic emission are registered, Ni is the number
of registered signals in the i th channel of the analyzer, and N s is the total number of the registered signals of
acoustic emission.
Therefore, the method of acoustic emission allows one to evaluate the state of a tribosystem during its function-
ing, in particular, to efficiently determine the moment of origination of inadmissible damageability of the materials
of friction couples during their operation. To this end, it is reasonable to determine the quantitative parameters of
the level of loading and to compare them with the statistical parameters of the signals of acoustic emission in real-
time operation, viz., with the dispersion of probability density of the amplitudes of acoustic signals. By using the
well-known algorithms of statistical processing of acoustic signals, one can determine the corresponding criterion
AN APPROACH TO EVALUATION OF W EAR OF FRICTION COUPLES BY THE METHOD OF ACOUSTIC EMISSION 105

according to dependence (1). This allows one to obtain a quantitative evaluation of the intensity of wear of materials
at any moment during the operation of machines and equipment.

The author expresses his profound thanks to Candidate of Technical Sciences V. R. Skal’s’kyi and Doctor of
Technical Sciences V. V. Shyrokov for a discussion of the results and for help in preparation of the manuscript for
publication.

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