Application of physical methods for investigating frictional contact parts wear and loading.

Assessment of the wear pattern of frictional contact parts is a topical problem to be solved in tribology. The wear products isolated from waste lubricant were subjected to electron diffraction studies to solve this problem. The results of these studies enabled the establishment of phase composition, and of quantitative relations between the phases and dispersity of wear particles. The set of data obtained permits a judgement to be made on the predominant type of wear under specific service conditions. The suggested technique was applied to assess the pattern of wear of the teeth of conventional solid and self aligning composite gears. Its was shown that predominantly oxidative wear is observed to occur in composite gears under severe operating conditions for production equipment reduction gears. Under the same operating conditions for solid gears the wear product particles testify to a more intensive fatigue or abrasive wear of teeth. With the use of self aligning gears such changes are caused by reduced dynamic components of the load and its more regular distribution along the length of the contact line on mated teeth. To estimate this distribution, various points along the full length of a tooth were studied by X-ray diffraction analysis, conventional methods of strain measurements were used, and diagrams of wear were taken. (from authors' abstract)