Effect of Dust Particle Inflow on the Wear of Rubber Seal Material in Automobile Chassis System

• Published in: Tribology transactions 2011-01, Vol.54 (1), p.87-95
• Main Authors: PARK, SE-MIN, WON, TAE-YOUNG, KIM, GI-HOON, KIM, DAE-SUNG, LEE, YOUNG-ZE
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abrasive Wear; Applied sciences; Automobiles; Automotive components; Automotive engineering; Automotive parts; Chassis; Dust; Dust Particle; Exact sciences and technology; Fracture mechanics (crack, fatigue, damage...); Friction, wear, lubrication; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); Machine components; Mechanical engineering. Machine design; Particle Ingredient; Physics; Rubber; Rubber Seals; Seals; SEM; Size of Particle; Sliding friction; Solid mechanics; Structural and continuum mechanics; Tribology; Wear; Wear resistance
• ISSN: 1040-2004; 1547-397X
• DOI: 10.1080/10402004.2010.524346

In an automobile chassis system, several environmental factors reduce the durability of automotive components. In particular, dust particles entering through rubber seals increase the friction and wear of sliding surfaces. Increased wear causes noise, fracture, and reduced service life of components. In this study, dust particles were collected on the chassis while driving. The particle sizes and ingredients of the dust were analyzed using microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray. It was found that SiO and Al O were the main ingredients of the dust particles. Based on our analysis of the data, wear tests were performed with the rubber seal specimens using a ball-on-disk type sliding wear tester. When SiO and Al O particles came into contact with the rubber seal specimen, two-body and three-body abrasive wear took place. In tests of SiO particles only, the wear volumes of rubber seal specimens were increased by increasing the particle's injection amount and the size of the dust. In a test of the mixed particles (SiO and Al O ), four mixing ratios (8:1, 4:1, 2:1, 1:2 [SiO :Al O ]) were used based on the analysis data. When the same size particles of SiO and Al O were used, the wear amounts of the rubber increased with a higher percentage of Al O , which is harder than SiO . When mixed particles with 26.6 μm of SiO and 1 μm of Al O were used, wear increased with increased amounts of SiO .