Thermal Effects Due to Surface Films in Sliding Contact

The present work examines theoretically the influence of surface coatings on the temperatures produced by friction due to sliding contact. A generalized thermal model is developed which incorporates three-dimensional, transient heat transfer between layered media with thermal coupling at multiple, interacting contact patches. A solution technique based on a variation of the boundary element method is developed and utilized. The method allows for the solution of the distribution of frictional heat and the resulting temperature rise in an accurate yet numerically efficient manner. Results are presented showing the influence of film thickness, thermal properties, velocity, and contact area on the division of heat and surface temperature rise. The results show that a film with thermal properties different than those of the substrate can have a pronounced effect on the predicted temperature rise.