Effect of rare earths surface treatment on tribological properties of carbon fibers reinforced PTFE composite under oil-lubricated condition

The effect of rare earths （RE） surface treatment of carbon fibers （CF） on tribological properties of CF reinforced polytetrafluoroethylene （PTFE） composites under oil-lubricated condition was investigated. Experimental results revealed that RE treated CF reinforced PTFE （CF/PTFE） composite had the lowest friction coefficient and wear under various applied loads and sliding speeds compared with untreated and air-oxidated composites. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS） study of carbon fiber surface showed that, after RE treatment, oxygen concentration increased obviously, and the amount of oxygen-containing groups on CF surfaces were largely increased. The increase in the amount of oxygen-containing groups enhanced interfacial adhesion between CF and PTFE matrix. With strong interfacial adhesion of the composite, stress could be effectively transmitted to carbon fibers; carbon fibers were strongly bonded with VITE matrix, and large scale rubbing-off of PTFE be prevented, therefore, tribological properties of the composite was improved.

Real-Time Electrostatic Monitoring of Wear Debris for Wind Turbine Gearbox

Engineering practice has shown that early faults of gearboxes are a leading maintenance cost driver that can easily lower the profit from a wind turbine operation.A novel oil-lubricated electrostatic monitoring of wear debris for a wind turbine gearbox is presented.The continuous wavelet transform(CWT)is used to eliminate the noises of the original electrostatic signal.The kurtosis and root mean square(RMS)values of the time domain signal are extracted as the characteristic parameters to reflect the deterioration of the gearbox.The overall tendency of electrostatic signals in accelerated life test is analyzed.In the eighth cycle,the abnormal wear in the wind turbine gearbox is detected by electrostatic monitoring.A comparison with the popular MetalScan monitoring is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the electrostatic monitoring method.The results demonstrate that the electrostatic monitoring method can detect the fault accurately.

Effect of hybrid ratio on friction and wear behavior of AZ91D matrix nanocomposites under oil lubricated conditions

Friction and wear behavior of AZ91D and its nanocomposites reinforced by different contents of hybrid multi-walled CNTs and nano-SiC particulates under oil lubrication was investigated using a MRS-10P four-ball tribometer.Friction coefficients and wear rates were measured within a load range of 200-1000 N at a spindle rotary speed of 380 r/min.Worn surface morphologies,phase and element compositions were studied by scanning electron microscope(SEM),X-ray diffraction(XRD)and energy dispersive spectroscopy(EDS),respectively.The mechanism of synergistic effect of CNTs and SiC nanoparticles was discussed.The results indicate that the AZ91D nanocomposites show better wear resistance properties and different wear mechanisms compared with AZ91D.The AZ91D nanocomposites reinforced with 0.5%CNTs and 0.5%nano-SiC have the best tribological capacity.The wear mechanisms for the Mg-based hybrid nanocomposites appear to be a mix-up of micro-ploughing,micro-cutting,slight adhesive wear and delamination.