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Researchers have discovered a swirling, fluid-like behavior
in a solid piece of metal sliding over another, providing new insights into the
mechanisms of wear and generation of machined surfaces that could help improve
the durability of metal parts.
Studies using a microscope and high-speed camera revealed the
formation of bumps, folds, vortex-like features, and cracks on the metal
surface. The findings were surprising because the experiment was conducted at
room temperature and the sliding conditions did not generate enough heat to
soften the metal.
“We see phenomena normally associated with fluids, not
solids,” says Srinivasan Chandrasekar, a Purdue University professor of
industrial engineering who is working with postdoctoral research associates
Narayan Sundaram and Yang Guo.
Numerous mechanical parts, from bearings to engine pistons,
undergo such sliding.
“It has been known that little pieces of metal peel off
from sliding surfaces,” Chandrasekar says. “The conventional view is
that this requires many cycles of rubbing, but what we are saying is that when
you have surface folding you don’t need too many cycles for these cracks to
form. This can happen very quickly, accelerating wear.”
Findings are detailed in a research paper published in Physical
Review Letters.
The researchers are developing models to further study the
phenomena and understand the wide-ranging consequences of such fluid-like flow
in metals, Chandrasekar says. The findings might also lead to improved surface
quality in materials processing.
The team observed what happens when a wedge-shaped piece of
steel slides over a flat piece of copper. It was the first time researchers had
directly imaged how sliding metals behave on the scale of 100 microns to 1 mm,
known as the mesoscale.
The observations show how tiny bumps form in front of the
steel piece, followed by the swirling vortex-like movement and then the
creation of shallow cracks. The folding and cracking were most pronounced when
the steel piece was held at a sharp angle to the copper surface.
The researchers hypothesize that the folding and cracking
are due in part to a phenomenon similar to “necking,” which happens
as a piece of metal is stretched.
Researchers used a specialized laboratory setup that
included a high-speed camera and equipment that applies force to the sliding
metals. The behavior was captured in movies that show the flow in color-coded
layers just below the surface of the copper specimen. Copper is commonly used
to model the mechanical behavior of metals.
“Researchers have never had a good experimental setup
to observe this kind of deformation directly,” Guo says. “Our setup
enables us to see the entire history of this fluid-like behavior as it occurs,
whereas more conventional experiments rely on still images taken after the
experiment is finished.”
Metals are made of groups of crystals called grains. Metal
surfaces that have smaller grains may be less susceptible to the folding and
crack formation.
“We need to explore what role grain size plays,”
Chandrasekar says. “We think there should be some grain size below which
this folding mechanism might be less active. We need to explore why – under
what conditions—solid metals behave like fluids.”
Source: Purdue University
