Tracing the evolution of contact area during the running-in process of AgCu-MoS2 composite

• Published in: Tribology international 2022-10, Vol.174, p.107739, Article 107739
• Main Authors: Zhang, Xin, Zhang, Lei, Yang, Zhi, Zhu, Xiu-chong, He, Yong, Kang, Xiao
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Composite; Contact area; Plastic index; Running-in; Surface roughness
• ISSN: 0301-679X; 1879-2464
• DOI: 10.1016/j.triboint.2022.107739

The goal of this work is to investigate the evolution of the running-in process and analyze the running-in period. The present work improved the method, which analyzed the running-in period of the AgCu-MoS2/AgCu10 friction pair during the running-in process. The sliding distance of the running-in period of the AgCu-MoS2/AgCu10 friction pair is 100 m. Based on the quantitative characterization of the plastic index, the connection among the contact area, plastic index, and surface roughness were established. The COF, wear loss, surface roughness, and plasticity index are regarded as the function of the dimensionless real contact area. By using the dimensionless real contact area, we can comprehensively and systematically analyze the evolution of the running-in period of the AgCu-MoS2/AgCu10 friction pair. •A dimensionless contact area is put forward as a criterion for running-in evolution of self-lubricating friction pairs.•The relationship between the contact area, the contact interface roughness and the plasticity index were discussed.•In the running-in process, the adhesion component were the frictional responses caused by the real contact area.•During the running-in process, the evolution of the contact area strongly influenced the transfer film and roughness of the AgCu-MoS2/AgCu10 friction pairs.