Numerical simulation and experimental study on adhesion effect of powder lubricating layer

Purpose Powder lubrication is widely used in industrial production, but most of the research that analyze the wear process and speculate on the wear mechanism of the tested specimens lacks reliability, and it is difficult to reveal the essence of the friction and wear process. The purpose of this paper is using the optical in situ observation method to observe the condition of the powder lubrication layer in real time and dynamically, and directly obtain the morphology change of the specimen during the whole wear process, which is helpful to the establishment of new tribological basic theories such as friction and wear mechanism and lubrication theory. Design/methodology/approach Mechanical model of powder lubrication is established considering asperity and powder layer, and the influence of adhesion effect on load and friction force is analyzed. The finite difference method is used to solve the above physical model, and the influence of the adhesion effect on load and friction force is analyzed. The total load and friction of the friction pair are composed of two parts: fluid and asperity. Based on the optical in situ observation method to build a test platform. The interface of the adhesion stage was observed by SEM. Findings When the film thickness ratio is less than 1, the local damage and diffusion of the powder layer are basically completed and the adhesion stage is entered. At this time, the asperity is not fully loaded, the powder layer is loaded by 50%, the asperity is less loaded, the deformation is small and the possibility of plastic flow is reduced. However, in the adhesion stage, the friction force is basically generated between asperity, and the friction force ratio of the asperity is 80%. Heavy load and surface roughness of the specimen are the necessary conditions for the powder adhesion period. Practical implications In this paper, the failure process of the powder layer at the friction interface with different roughness and load is studied based on the optical in situ observation method. Second, the contact surface with the micro-convex body and powder layer is simulated, and the influence of adhesion effect on the mechanical properties of the real contact surface in the process of powder lubrication is analyzed, thus providing theoretical guidance for mechanical processing, workpiece operation and lubrication design. Originality/value Mechanical model considering asperities and powder layer powder lubrication was established to analyze the influence of the adhesion effect on load and friction. Based on the optical in situ observation method to build a test platform. The tests found that the failure process of the powder lubricating layer includes five stages: powder complete stage, local failure stage, local failure diffusion stage, powder adhesion stage and complete failure stage. Peer review The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-11-2022-0322/