A novel ultrahigh-speed ball-on-disc tribometer

The ball-on-disc is the most commonly used configuration in the friction tests. However, the sliding speed is usually lower than 5 m/s, which limits the research on the mechanisms of ultrahigh-speed friction and wear. The end run-out and the eccentric mass of disc are the main factors that limit the sliding speed of ball-on-disc test. In this study, the combined solution of on-line precision cutting and in-situ dynamic has been proposed to obtain the ultrahigh sliding speed. An ultrahigh-speed ball-on-disc tribometer with the maximum sliding speed of 50 m/s has been developed. The steady loading and friction force curves for the three kinds of selected typical engineering materials prove that the developed tribometer has the ability to implement the ultrahigh-speed friction test. The test results in the wide range of sliding speed present the necessity and feasibility of ultrahigh-speed friction test.