UPGRADED FRICTION MACHINE

The study objective is to increase the information value, accuracy and reliability of the experimental assessment results of extreme pressure and antifriction properties of the tested materials. A brief analysis of the work on the creation of test tribo-technical equipment is given. The difference between the designs of friction machines for testing using Reichert and Timken tests is shown. The design of an upgraded friction machine for determining extreme pressure, antifriction and anti-wear properties of lubricants is presented. In the proposed installation, the radial force on the friction unit ("roller - ring" or "bar – ring") is generated by a mechanism of even loading, and the assessment of extreme pressure lubricants is determined at the moment of gripping the rubbing samples, at which the motor shaft stops. As a result of upgrading the machine, it became possible to measure the friction force, the normal load and to read the friction factor, both for the lubricants under study and for friction pairs consisting of structural and instrumental materials. The results of comparative tests on the upgraded friction machine for lubricating and cooling liquids with different contents of extreme pressure, antifriction and anti-wear additives are presented. A new friction machine design based on Reichert machine is developed, which allows testing structural and lubricating materials for friction and wear using both Reichert and Timken tests. At the same time, the accuracy of determining tribo-engineering characteristics of the tested materials is increased. It is found that as a result of equipping the friction machine with an even loading system and force measuring sensors, it becomes possible to determine extreme pressure and anti-friction properties of lubricants and structural materials, as well as to estimate the value of the friction factor.