International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 107 (2017) 339–346

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International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijhmt

Temperature field analysis of pin-on-disk sliding friction test

Shi Ying a,⇑, Yao Yupeng b
a
School of Mechanical Engineering, Dalian Jiaotong University, Dalian 116028, China;
b
School of Electric Multiple Units Engineering, Dalian Jiaotong University, Dalian 116028, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Heat flux of friction and the convective heat transfer coefficient were initially calculated accurately
Received 2 September 2016 according to the theory of heat transmission. Then a pin-on-disk temperature field model was established
Received in revised form 6 November 2016 via the finite element method, and the steady-state temperature distributions for the pin and the disk
Accepted 13 November 2016
were analyzed. Due to the influence of the surrounding media on convective heat transfer, the center
temperature in any section of a disk or pin specimen was highest and the temperature dropped gradually
from inside out. The position farther from the disk center was found with smaller temperature difference
Keywords:
from the lubricating oil and smaller temperature dropping gradient. Under the impact of friction heat
Temperature field
Pin-on-disk
flow and convective heat transfer, the temperature of the pin-on-disk rose rapidly at the initial stage
Sliding friction of friction, then increased at a slower rate, and finally reached a thermal equilibrium. Comparison
Simulation between simulations and experiments for the average temperature rise at the disk bottom were in good
agreement, which proved the correctness of the temperature model. This study provides references for
temperature prediction in studying the pin-on-disk friction pair and verifies the feasibility of simulation
method for studying the temperature field of friction pair.
Ó 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction heat-generation coefficient and contact heat transfer coefficient.

Friction is a complicated phenomenon that is accompanied with
energy conversion. About 85%–95% of friction-induced energy is
converted to heat energy, besides surface energy, optical energy
and acoustic energy [1]. The change of the motion state such as
normal load, relative velocity and friction factor can cause varia-
tion in friction heat and temperature field. The friction heat and
temperature field also have counteractive effects on the friction
pair and thereby affect tribological behaviors. The research on fric-
tion heat plays an important role in the tribology development.
Le et al. studied the heat transfer over the curved surface of
NACA0012 micro-airfoil and the sharp 25–55-deg. biconic by the
computational fluid dynamic (CFD) and Montecarlo (DSMC)
method. The CFD simulation of heat transfer considering sliding
friction agreed well with the DSMC data [2]. Liu et al. analyzed
the temperature field of disk-pad friction pair by using FE simula-
tion and LM algorithm regression. The simulated peak tempera-
tures of brake disk at different working states agree well with
the regression analysis [3].
Belyakov and Nosko studied the non-stationary heat conduction
in two sliding layers with consideration into the time-dependent
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: shiying1980@163.com (S. Ying).
They found the time-dependent friction conditions considerably
influenced the partition of the friction heat between the sliding
layers [4]. Gui et al. developed a numerical method to study the
mechanical, thermal and tribological characteristics in dry sliding
systems. The simulations of the wear distribution, stress and tem-
perature are all consistent with the experimental results [5].
Many friction and wear mechanisms of materials are still not
solved due to the very complexity of tribological phenomena. Tri-
bological studies mainly rely on laboratory tests [6–8]. The pin-on-
disk test is a common method to study tribological properties,
Massaq et al. applied pin-on-disk tribometer test to study the
tribological properties of woven glass-fiber- reinforced polyamide
composites, and found frictional phenomena were more severe
when the fibers were vertical to the frictional direction [6].
Through pin-on-disk tests under dry sliding conditions at a con-
stant velocity and different normal loads, Kumar et al. studied
the tribological performances of aluminum-based composites con-
taining either SiC or a combination of MoS2 and SiC [7]. Bahri et al.
investigated the mechanical and tribological behaviors of
Titanium-nitride coating by the pin-on-disk friction and wear tests
[8].
There are many studies on the temperature field of the friction
pair. As a widespread and basic method, the thermal tribological
characteristic analysis of the pin-on-disk friction pair is especially

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2016.11.047
0017-9310/Ó 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
340 S. Ying, Y. Yupeng / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 107 (2017) 339–346

important. However, the pin-on-disk temperature field is seldom

studied. Yevtushenko et al. developed an analytical model to study
the friction heat distribution between a rotating disk and a vertical
stationary cylindrical pin [9]. But there is no comparative analysis
of research results.
With the development of the finite element method, numerical
simulation of friction pair plays an increasingly important role in
the temperature research. Pin-on-disk was studied here based on Fig. 2. Dimension drawing of pin.
the theory of heat transmission. A numerical model was then built
with consideration into the actual size of the pin-on-disk. The heat
transfer coefficient and the friction heat flux were calculated. Table 1
Steady-state temperature field of the pin-on-disk was determined Material parameters of specimens.

using the finite element method and the temperature distribution
was analyzed. The simulation results and the test results of average
temperature rise at the disk bottom were compared, which verifies
the correctness of the temperature model and the feasibility of
simulation in solving the temperature field problem of the friction
pair.
2. Pin-on-disk sliding friction test
Pin-on-disk sliding friction test was performed on UMT-3
Universal Tribometer Test machine by using pin-on-disk samples
and at an alternating motion mode. The pin of the upper sample
was fixed, and the disk of the lower sample was made in an alter-
nating motion in the range of 1.5 mm in the right and left areas of
lower surface of pin sample.
The lubricating system of the UMT-3 test machine is shown in
Fig. 1. The disk specimen was placed in the small oil pool located
in a large oil pool. The small oil pool was installed with
vertically-crossed grooves. The pins passed through the pin pores
drilled in advance on the disks, and then were embedded into
the grooves. Before the test, the disk specimen was adjusted at
the appropriate position. The small oil pool was filled with #150
lubricating oil until the disk specimen was fully soaked and was
moving in an oil-rich state.
As the pin-on-disk sliding friction test would guide the research
on tribological properties of the locomotive traction gear material,
the pin specimen was made of 42CrMo (dimensions showed in
Fig. 2) into the driving gear. The disk specimen was made of
17CrNiMo6 into the driven gear. The lower specimen is a
43.2
30.3
5 mm3 rectangular disk. The material parameters
and chemical components of the specimens are given in Tables 1
and 2, respectively.
Items Upper specimen (pin) Lower specimen (disk)
Materials 42CrMo 17CrNiMo6
Hardness/HRC 62.5 61.7
Roughness/lm 0.6 0.6
Pin-on-disk friction tests were carried out under dry sliding
conditions at different normal loads of 200, 400, 600, 800 and
1000 N and at different sliding speeds of 30, 120, 210 and
300 mm/s. The loads and velocities were randomly combined to
generate 20 groups of test conditions. Tests under each condition
were repeated three times to obtain the corresponding average
friction coefficient, which was regarded as the friction coefficient
under that condition. The results are listed in Table 3.
By regression analysis and significant test, the friction coeffi-
cient of the pin-on-disk friction pair (l) is obtained in [10] as
follows:
l ¼ 0:1012  ð4:9635
105 ÞF N  ð5:9768
105 Þt
þ ð5:1106
108 ÞF 2N þ ð7:0669
109 ÞF N t þ ð2:0189

108 Þt2  ð2:0103
1011 ÞF 3N  ð3:3028
1012 ÞF 2N t
 ð3:1578
1013 ÞF N t2  ð2:2932
1012 Þt3 ð1Þ
where F N is the normal load and t is the relative velocity.
The correctness of Eq. (1) was verified by some groups of pin-
on-disk friction test [10]. As indicated by Eq. (1), the friction coef-
ficient is significantly influenced by the normal load and the rela-
tive velocity of the friction pair. In the temperature field
research, the corresponding friction coefficient under the working
condition of the different loads and relative velocities was calcu-
lated. Therefore, the friction coefficient in the simulation is closer
to the experimental value.

3. Related theories

3.1. Differential equations of temperature field analysis

The temperature field of an object is defined as the sum of

instantaneous temperature distributions or temperatures at all
points inside the object. The temperature T in a three-dimension
nonstable temperature field is mathematically expressed as
T ¼ f ðx; y; z; tÞ, where x, y, z are the coordinates in a rectangular
coordinate system and t is time.
According to the law of energy conservation, a three-
dimensional unsteady conductive differential equation for a
micro-body is expressed as:




@T @ @T @ @T @ @T
qc ¼ k þ k þ k þ qv ð2Þ
@t @x @x @y @y @z @z

where q is the density of a micro-unit, c is its specific heat, k is the

heat conduction coefficient of material, and qv is the generating
Fig. 1. Lubricating system of UMT-3 test machine. heat per unit time and volume.
 S. Ying, Y. Yupeng / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 107 (2017) 339–346 341

Table 2
Chemical components of specimens.

Component C:% Si:% Mn:% Cr:% S:% P:% Ni:% Mo:%

Pin 0.16 0.27 0.52 1.77 0.003 0.01 1.53 0.29
Disk 0.44 0. 0.7 0.97 0.01 0.01 0.17 0.18

Table 3 differential equations. To get the temperature distribution that sat-

Test results. isfies actual heat conduction, we need the boundary conditions
Groups Loads/N Relative velocities/(mm/s) Friction coefficients that characterize a certain problem. There are three types of
1 200 30 0.09424
boundary conditions for heat conduction:
2 200 120 0.08926
3 200 210 0.08 (1) The boundary condition that specifies the borderline tem-
4 200 300 0.07372 peratures can be expressed as:
5 400 30 0.08996
6 400 120 0.08521 Tw ¼ f 1 ðtÞ ð8Þ
7 400 210 0.07512
8 400 300 0.06513 (2) The boundary condition that specifies the borderline heat-
9 600 30 0.08876 flux density can be expressed as:
10 600 120 0.08279

11 600 210 0.07214 @T
k ¼ f 2 ðtÞ ð9Þ
12 600 300 0.06418 @n w
13 800 30 0.08725
14 800 120 0.08005 where n is the normal direction.
15 800 210 0.06955 (3) The boundary condition that specifies the surface heat trans-
16 800 300 0.06344
17 1000 30 0.0852
fer coefficient h and the surrounding fluid temperature T f
18 1000 120 0.07865 can be expressed as:
19 1000 210 0.06814

@T
20 1000 300 0.06303 k ¼ hðT w  T f Þ ð10Þ
@n w

For a cylinder such as pins, Eq. (2) can be rewritten as a conduc- 3.3. Mathematical model of temperature field
tive differential equation in a cylinder coordinate system as
follows: 3.3.1. Related hypotheses




@T 1 @ @T 1 @ @T @ @T
qc ¼ kr þ 2 k þ k þ qv ð3Þ (1) The convective heat transfer of the pin in the surrounding air
@t r @r @r r @u @u @z @z
only occurs at the exposed cylindrical surface, and the heat
(1) Generally, the friction material is known and k is constant. transfer coefficient is irrelevant with the position of the
Then Eq. (2) is simplified to: pin. The convective heat transfer of a disk occurs at all posi-
! tions except its contact areas and its bottom.
@T @2T @2T @2T q
¼a þ þ þ v ð4Þ (2) The whole friction surface of a pin is in complete and homo-
@t @x2 @y2 @z2 qc geneous contact with the friction disk.
(3) The friction heat flux has uniform intensity, while the mate-
where a is the coefficient of thermal diffusion and a ¼ qkc. rial is homogeneous and compact with equal thermal
(2) Since k is constant and there is no inner heat source, Eq. (2) conductivity.
is simplified to: (4) Peclet number is used to determine whether the heat flux
! between pin-on-disks is steady or transient. When the pin
@T @2T @2T @2T
¼a þ þ ð5Þ specimens are static, the disk specimens move repeatedly
@t @x2 @y2 @z2 or revolve at constant speed. If P e =2 > 100, the heat flux
entering the friction surfaces is steady-state, so the temper-
(3) For a constant state and steady-state, Eq. (2) is simplified as:
! ature field can be considered as steady-state. For the static
@2T @2T @2T q pin and moving disk, Peclet number Pe can be expressed as:
þ þ þ v ¼0 ð6Þ
@x2 @y2 @z2 k
td Ld td Ld qd c d
Pe ¼ ¼ ð11Þ
The above equation is called Poisson’s equation. ad kd
(4) For constant physical properties, no inner heat source and where td is the linear velocity, Ld is the characteristic length, ad is
steady-state, Eq. (2) is simplified into a Laplace’s equation the thermal diffusivity, qd is the density, cd is the specific heat,
as follows: and kd is the heat conduction coefficient of the disk specimen.
@2T @2T @2T
þ þ ¼0 ð7Þ 3.3.2. Differential equations and boundary conditions for temperature
@x2 @y2 @z2
field analysis of experimental pin-on-disk
The three-dimensional differential equations of the pin speci-
3.2. Boundary conditions of temperature field analysis men and the disk specimen can be expressed as Eqs. (3) and (2),
respectively.
The heat conduction differential equation is a mathematical The pin specimen is exposed to the air and the disk specimen is
expression describing the generality of heat conduction. Resolving fully soaked in the lubricating oil. The ambient temperature T 0 is
the heat conduction is substantially to resolve the heat conduction 20 °C.
342 S. Ying, Y. Yupeng / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 107 (2017) 339–346

The boundary conditions of the top of the pin specimen are: a2

q2 ¼ Q ð19Þ
a1 2
z ¼ l; T ¼ T 0 ; ð12Þ
where a1 is the length of a narrow strip along the moving direction,
where l is the height of the pin specimen.
and a2 is the length of the zone receiving friction heat flow.
The boundary condition at the cylindrical surface of the pin
Since the stroke of a disk sample’s center within each cycle is
specimen is:
6 mm, the average friction heat flow entering the narrow strip at


@T @T @T the center of this disk specimen is q2 ¼ 3þ2
2
Q2 .
k þ þ þ hair ðT  T 0 Þ ¼ 0 ð13Þ
@x @y @z
where hair is the surface heat transfer coefficient of the ambient air. 3.3.4. Convective heat transfer of pin-on-disk specimen
The boundary conditions at the friction bottom of the pin spec- Based on the heat transfer principle, convective heat transfer is
imen are: divided into natural convection and forced convection. The Rey-
nolds number Re and the Grashof number Gr are applied to deter-
@T
z ¼ 0; k ¼Q ð14Þ minate the natural convection and forced convection [11] as
@z follows:
where Q is the friction heat. 8 Gr
>
> 6 0:1 forced convection
The boundary condition at the friction area of the disk specimen < Re2
is [12,13]: Gr
P 10 natural convection ð20Þ
>
>
Re2
@T : 0:1 6 Gr 6 10 mixed convection
z ¼ 0; k ¼Q ð15Þ
2
Re
@z
Re is expressed as:
The boundary condition at the other area of the disk specimen is:

 tL
@T @T @T Re ¼ ð21Þ
k þ þ þ hoil ðT  T 0 Þ ¼ 0 ð16Þ m
@x @y @z
where m is the kinematic viscosity of the ambient media.
where hoil is the surface heat transfer coefficient of the ambient
Gr is expressed as:
lubricating oil.
g av L3 Dt
3.3.3. Heat flux of pin-on-disk specimen Gr ¼ ð22Þ
m2
The pin specimen is fixed and the disk specimen reciprocates.
Dt ¼ t w  t 1 ð23Þ
The distribution of friction heat flux is influenced by the load, rel-
ative velocity and friction coefficient. The friction heat flux can be where g is the gravitational acceleration, t 1 is the temperature of
expressed as: surrounding media, t w is the temperature of the friction object,
1 and av is the coefficient of cubical expansion. The av of air is
Q¼ ltF N ð17Þ 3:676
103 K1 and the m of air at the standard atmospheric pres-
J
sure is 14:8
106 m2/s.
where J is the mechanical equivalent of heat.
The pin specimen is static in the test. The heat transfer between
The distribution ratio is influenced by the contact state and the
the cylindrical surface of the pin and the air is natural convective
difference of material property. The relevant equations are listed as
heat transfer, of which the Nusselt number NuN is expressed as
follows:
8 [14]:
>
> Q ¼ bQ ¼ 1J bltF
> 1
> NuN ¼ CðGrPrÞn ð24Þ
>
>
< Q 2 ¼ ð1  bÞQ ¼ 1J ð1  bÞltF
Q ð18Þ where Pr is Prandl number, C and n are constants determined by the
>
> b ¼ Q 1 þQ
1
>
> qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
2
ffi shapes of friction pair and the flow pattern, respectively.
>
> Q1
: ¼ k1 q1 c1
The related parameters are listed in Table 4.
Q2 k2 q c 2
2
The convective heat transfer between a moving disk specimen
where b is the heat flux density distribution ratio; Q 1 and Q 2 are the and the lubricating oil is similar to that in the flow along the flat
heat fluxes entering the pin specimen and the disk specimen, plate. In case of Rex 6 5
105 , the heat transfer between the flat-
respectively; k1 and k2 are their heat conduction coefficients, plate and fluid is a laminar flow, with Nux ¼ 0:332Re1=2 1=3
x Pr . For
respectively; q1 and q2 are their densities, respectively; c1 and c2 the whole flat-plate, Nu is expressed as:
are their specific heats, respectively.
During the repeated friction of the pin-on-disks, the pin speci- Nu ¼ 0:664Re1=2 Pr1=3 ð25Þ
men always receives friction heat flow. Thus, the average friction
heat flux entering the friction interface of a pin specimen within In case of 5
105 < Rex < 107 , the heat transfer between the flat-
each cycle is q1 ¼ Q 1 . The areas on a disk specimen that are plate and fluid is a turbulence, with Nux ¼ 0:0296Re4=5 1=3
x Pr , and
involved in the friction contact are showed in Fig. 3. Clearly, during for the whole flat-plate, Nu is expressed as:
the friction, the units on the friction interface of the disk specimen
do not always receive friction heat flow. The friction contact zone Nu ¼ 0:037ðRe4=5  871ÞPr 1=3 ð26Þ
of a disk specimen is divided into several narrow strips along the
moving direction. When the number of narrow strips is large The convective heat transfer of the friction surface hs can be calcu-
enough, each narrow strip can be approximately regarded as a lated from:
rectangle. During each cycle, each point on the contact region of Nuk
a disk specimen receives friction heat flow twice. Thus, the average hs ¼ ð27Þ
L
friction heat flow entering the friction area of the disk specimen
within each cycle can be expressed as: where k is the heat conduction coefficient of ambient media.
 S. Ying, Y. Yupeng / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 107 (2017) 339–346 343

Fig. 3. Diagram of contact area for the disk specimen.

Table 4
Parameters.

Shape of transfer surface Flow pattern C n GrPr L

Vertical flat plate and cylindrical surface Laminar flow 0.59 1/4 4
10 —10 9 Height
Turbulent flow 0.1 1/3 109 —1013
Horizontal cylinder Laminar flow 0.53 1/4 104 —109 Outer diameter
Turbulent flow 0.13 1/3 109 —1013
Horizontal flat plate (heated surface upward Laminar flow 0.54 1/4 104 —107 For rectangular, L is average of length and width.
or cooled surface downward) Turbulent flow 0.15 1/3 107 —109
Horizontal flat plate (heated surface downward Laminar flow 0.27 1/4 105 —1010 For square, L is side length
or cooled surface upward)

4. Simulation on temperature field of pin-on-disk
4.1. Determination of related parameters
The characteristic dimension L is calculated from:
L ¼ ð43:2 þ 30:3Þ=2 ¼ 36:75 mm
Related material parameters of the disk specimen and locomotive
gear oil No. 150 are listed in Tables 5 and 6, respectively.
Pe is calculated as follows:
P e ¼ tLqc=k ¼ 120
103
36:75
103
7800
460=46 ¼ 399:17
P e =2 > 100
Therefore, the heat flux entering the friction surface of pin-on-disk
is steady, and the steady temperature field should be analyzed.
Under the conditions when the normal load of pin top surface is
400 N and the relative sliding velocity of pin-on-disk is 120 mm/s,
calculations show the pressure of pin top surface is 13.25 MPa and
the contact pressure of pin-on-disk friction pair is 127.32 MPa. The
friction coefficient calculated by Eq. (1) is 0.0816. According to Eqs.
(17)–(27), the total friction heat flux is 798328.74 W/m2 and heat
flux density distribution ratio is 0.5. The friction heat fluxes enter-
ing the friction surface of pin and disk are 399164.37 W/m2. The
theoretical values of related parameters are listed in Table 7.
As GrPr of the bottom surface of the pin specimen is out of the
boundary value in Table 4, the criterion equation is applied to cal-
Table 5
Material parameters of disk specimen.
Characteristic Density Specific heat (J/ Thermal conductivity
dimension (mm) (kg/m3) (kg °C)) (W/(m K))
36.75 7800 460 46
culate Nu [11]. For a vertical flat plate and cylinder, Nu is calculated
as follows:
0:67ðGrPrÞ1=4
Nu ¼ 0:68 þ 4=9
ðGrPr < 109 Þ ð31Þ
½1 þ ð0:492=PrÞ9=16 
ð28Þ
The boundary conditions of the disk specimen are as follows:
(1) The friction heat flux 399164.37 W/m2 is imposed on the
corresponding elements rubbed with the pin specimen by
surface loading.
(2) The convective heat transfer is imposed on the elements
except the friction area of the top and bottom surfaces.
ð29Þ The convective heat transfer coefficient is 172.47 W/(m2K)
and ambient temperature is 20 °C.
ð30Þ
The boundary conditions of the pin specimen are as follows:
(1) The elements rubbed with the disk specimen bear the heat
flux 399164.37 W/m2 by surface loading.
(2) The cylindrical surface bears the convective heat transfer.
The convective heat transfer coefficient is 8.203 W/(m2K)
at the upper and larger cylindrical surfaces and is
13.425 W/(m2K) at the lower and smaller cylindrical
surfaces.
4.2. Simulation analysis results
Simulation of temperature field for the pin-on-disk was carried
out on the nonlinear analysis software MSC.Marc (Fig. 4).
As showed in Fig. 4, the highest temperature of the pin speci-
men occurs on the bottom friction surface and the temperature
drops gradually from the bottom surface to the top surface. Due
to the convection heat transfer, the center temperature in any sec-
tion of the pin specimen is higher and then decreases gradually
along the radius direction from the center to the outer side.
344 S. Ying, Y. Yupeng / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 107 (2017) 339–346

Table 6
Performance parameters of lubricating oil.

Kinematic viscosity (m2/s) Specific heat (J/(kg°C)) Density (kg/m3) Flash point Pour point Viscosity index
40 °C 100 °C

1:5
104 1:48
105 1800 884 244 18 103

Table 7
Parameters of the thermal analysis for the pin-on-disk friction pair.

Parameter Top surface Bottom surface Disk

of pin of pin specimen
Dimension (mm) 20.5 5 36.75
Gr 28338.03 411.17 1589.36
Re – – 29.4
Gr/Re2 – – 1.84
GrPr 1:99
104 2:89
102 2:51
106
Flow pattern Laminar flow Laminar flow Laminar flow
Natural heat transfer 0.59/0.25 – –
coefficient
Nu 7.01 2.797 41.93
hs (W/(m2K)) 8.203 13.425 172.47

Fig. 5 shows the thermal change of the axial nodes on the pin
specimen. The horizontal coordinate is the friction time of a fric-
tion pair and z is the axial distance from a node to the friction sur-
face. Clearly, the temperature rapidly rises at the initial stage of
friction, then increases at a slower rate, and finally reaches a ther-
mal equilibrium (Fig. 5). A place nearer from the meshing point to
the friction surface is found with more heat flux entering the sur- Fig. 5. Thermal change of axial nodes on pin specimen.
face of the pin specimen, higher temperature rise rate and higher
steady temperature.
Fig. 6 shows the nephogram of the disk specimen and its friction Fig. 7 shows the thermal changing curve of a certain node on the
surface in the steady thermal analysis. It reveals that: disk specimen, which is similar to the thermal changing of the pin
specimen. Clearly, the temperature rapidly rises at the initial stage
(1) A position farther from the center receives less heat flux and of friction, then increases at a slower rate, and finally reaches a
is more strongly influenced by the lubricating oil on the con- steady state. When the calculated step number is up to 78, the
vective heat transfer. The center temperature in any section temperature reaches a thermal equilibrium.
of the disk specimen is highest and drops gradually to outer
sides. 4.3. Contrast of simulation and experimental values of temperature
(2) Under the influence of the convective heat transfer, the posi-
tion nearer to the friction surface is found with larger tem- It is difficult to measure the temperature of the contact surface
perature difference and faster temperature drop. A position on the friction pair, so we adopted an approximate processing
farther from the friction surface is found with a smaller tem- method. In many tests, the temperatures of the specimens need
perature difference from the lubricating oil, a lower convec- to increase or decrease. The UMT tribometer has a temperature
tive heat transfer degree and a smaller temperature sensor that can detect the temperature at the bearing platform of
dropping gradient. the lower specimen (namely the bottom temperature of the lower

Fig. 4. Nephogram of pin specimen and friction surface of pin specimen.

 S. Ying, Y. Yupeng / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 107 (2017) 339–346 345

Fig. 6. Nephogram of disk specimen and friction surface of disk specimen.

area of a disk specimen. The central temperature of the disk spec-

imen is necessarily higher than the surrounding temperatures. The
simulation of steady-state temperature shows that the tempera-
tures at the bottom nodes of a disk specimen are different, but
not larger than 2.5 °C. Thus, the temperature outputted from the
test machine is approximately considered as the average bottom
temperature of the disk specimen.
The steady-state temperature field of the pin-on-disk friction
pair is simulated at the relative velocities of 120 and 210 mm/s
and different top surface loads of the pin of 200, 400, 600, 800
and 1000 N. The simulation value T s and test value T t of average
temperature rise at the bottom of the disk specimen were com-
pared. The comparison results are shown in Table 8.
In Table 8, the relative error d can be expressed as:
 
T s  T t 
d ¼   ð32Þ
Tt 

As showed in Table 8:
(1) The simulation and test values of the temperature rise agree
well and the maximum relative error is 4.20%.
(2) The complicated and nonlinear friction and wear problem
can be solved by simulation analysis, which provides a prac-
tical and effective method for study on material tribological
Fig. 7. Thermal changing curve of a certain node on disk specimen.
properties.

specimen). The temperature on the human-computer interaction is 5. Conclusions

transmitted to the software and the temperature is adjusted. The
experimental temperature can be constant and also be increased
or decreased. The lower specimens can be cooled or heated by
adjusting the temperature of the lower-specimen bearing platform.
In this study, the pin specimen repeatedly moves only in a small
The simulations of steady temperature of pin-on-disk agree
well with the experimental values, which proves the correctness
of the temperature model and the validity of simulation method
to study the temperature field of a friction pair.

Table 8
Contrast between simulation values and test values of average temperature rise for bottom of disk specimen.

Load (N) Relative velocity (mm/s) Friction coefficient Test value of temperature rise (°C) Simulation value of temperature rise (°C) Relative errors (%)
200 120 0.0899 6.9 7.13 3.33
200 210 0.0804 12.1 12.38 2.31
400 120 0.0849 8.3 8.04 3.13
400 210 0.0745 13.8 13.22 4.20
600 120 0.0823 9.1 9.46 4.0
600 210 0.0715 15.3 15.08 1.44
800 120 0.0806 9.6 9.98 3.96
800 210 0.07 17.6 17.06 3.07
1000 120 0.0783 11.1 11.36 2.34
1000 210 0.063 20.6 20.05 2.67
346 S. Ying, Y. Yupeng / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 107 (2017) 339–346
Acknowledgements
This work was partially funded by the National Natural Science
Foundation of China grant 50375022.
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