AREA OF ENERGY DISSIPATION IN THE PROCESS OF SOLIDFRICTION

This study is an attempt at determining the volume of a material adherent directly to a friction surface where theprocess of energy dissipation is focused. The discussion is based on the laws of mass and energy conservation.Non-stationary thermal processes and wear in the environment of surface asperities contact are analysed. Theireffects are then presented as stationary, averaged at the macroscopic level and referred to the nominal surfaceof friction. Some dependences describing mass, volume and depth of energy dissipation area are introduced.An original method of determining flash temperature is offered. The proposed model encompasses a series ofphysical properties of a material involved in friction, certain geometric characteristics of the specimen, andmajor friction and wear parameters. A selected tribological experiment illustrates geometric features of thefriction area for several metallic materials. Depth of the energy dissipation area has been found to range from0.16 to 2.94 μm, depending on physical properties of a material and friction parameters.