Scuffing occurring in machine elements, especially under the concentrated sliding contacts system, is the main factor to induce entire system failure, viz., an instant failure. Among the various causes of scuffing, the effect of surface roughness may play a significant role, especially in a thin lubrication regime.
With these regards, the present study programme is emphasized on varifying the following three questions experimentally.
1. How to modelise the surface topography effectively in tribological process.
2. In what manner may being influenced the surface topograph at different conditions, viz., with the regimes of scuffing or mild and transition.
3. To prevent an instant scuffing, what kind of prerequisition be satisfied in surface finishing in conjunction with the operating conditions determined.
For the first problem, six parameters to define surface topography are introduced, and from the results a method of characterising surface roughness is suggested for the 2-D modeling. In addition, a frequency spectrum analysis technique is also applied for identifying the spatial characteristics of the surface topograph.
With the second problem, overall range of wear simulation test, from mild to severe was carried out under the thin film lubrication by using Cygnus Ball-on-Disc machine.
As the results, six surface parameters show very good repeatability to indicate any changes of surface roughness. And it is in evidence that metal transferring from the ball to the disc is occurred in accompany with setting-up scuffing. By the results, it is concluded that a new guide parameter for the optimal surface finishing, $\Lambda{'}(= \frac{h}{W.{\sigma}_c})$ is established.
