Some aspects regarding the influence of the anisotropy of an AA2021-T351 rolled thick plate on its tribological behaviour

Abstract

This scientific paper aims to study the influence of the anisotropy of an aluminium AA2024-T251 rolled thick plate on the surface tribological properties based on previous experimental and numerical studies concerning bulk and surface mechanical behaviour. Experimental friction tests have been made on the aluminium alloy thick plate surface using sliding of an ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) cylindrical pin. The used tribological test involves the generation of local motion along specified trajectories with different orientations under the action of a constant normal force and a constant slip velocity. Three different normal forces (3N, 5N, 7N) have been applied using five different sliding speeds (0.005, 0.05, 0.5, 1 and 5mm/s) along a linear trajectory of 3 mm length. In order to analyze the influence of the aluminium alloy anisotropy, the tests have been performed along three directions: a longitudinal one, corresponding to the rolling direction of the sample (0°), a transverse one, perpendicular to the rolling direction (90°), and a median direction (45°). Taking into account the observed bulk and surface anisotropy, especially concerning a fractal nature of the surface topography, an investigation was performed in order to determine its influence on the anisotropic tribological properties. In this purpose, fractal friction characteristics have been determined for the sliding process using a constant normal force Fn = 7N and the above five sliding speeds.