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Friction 2023, 11(11): 2008-2020 https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-022-0704-8
Research Article | Open Access | Issue | Published: 13 March 2023

Current-carrying friction in carbon coated ball bearing

Show Author's Information Peidong XUE1,2,  Cheng CHEN1,  Xue FAN1( ),  Dongfeng DIAO1( )
Institute of Nanosurface Science and Engineering (INSE), Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Micro/Nano Optomechatronics Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
College of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
Keywords:
carbon film, ball bearing, current-carrying friction, carbon stack
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XUE P, CHEN C, FAN X, et al. Current-carrying friction in carbon coated ball bearing. Friction, 2023, 11(11): 2008-2020. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-022-0704-8
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

In this work, we proposed a method for coating the whole surfaces of bearing balls uniformly by carbon film with a rotatable ball clamp. We studied the carbon/carbon friction with a self-designed current- carrying ball bearing friction test system. A notable and instant friction force drop of 28% and significant carbon film wear alleviation were found when currents were applied. By using TEM-, SEM-, and EDS-analysis, special carbon stacks with a mixture of large wear particles and oxide were found in the wear areas under current applied condition. We elucidated the current-carrying friction mechanisms as follows: (1) wear particles formation; (2) wear particles charged by tribomicroplasma; (3) formation of surface passivated carbon stacks under electric force; (4) sliding between passivated carbon surfaces. This work may facilitate the development of novel solid-lubricated ball bearings and lay some foundations for current-carrying rolling friction.


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Abstract
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Electronic supplementary material
About this article

Current-carrying friction in carbon coated ball bearing

Show Author's information Peidong XUE1,2, Cheng CHEN1, Xue FAN1( ), Dongfeng DIAO1( )
Institute of Nanosurface Science and Engineering (INSE), Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Micro/Nano Optomechatronics Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
College of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China

Abstract

In this work, we proposed a method for coating the whole surfaces of bearing balls uniformly by carbon film with a rotatable ball clamp. We studied the carbon/carbon friction with a self-designed current- carrying ball bearing friction test system. A notable and instant friction force drop of 28% and significant carbon film wear alleviation were found when currents were applied. By using TEM-, SEM-, and EDS-analysis, special carbon stacks with a mixture of large wear particles and oxide were found in the wear areas under current applied condition. We elucidated the current-carrying friction mechanisms as follows: (1) wear particles formation; (2) wear particles charged by tribomicroplasma; (3) formation of surface passivated carbon stacks under electric force; (4) sliding between passivated carbon surfaces. This work may facilitate the development of novel solid-lubricated ball bearings and lay some foundations for current-carrying rolling friction.

Keywords: carbon film, ball bearing, current-carrying friction, carbon stack

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Publication history

Received: 31 December 2021
Revised: 02 July 2022
Accepted: 03 October 2022
Published: 13 March 2023
Issue date: November 2023

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© The author(s) 2022.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the financial support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51975383). The authors would like to thank Dr. Nan Jian, Dr. Meijie Yin, Xi Zhang in the Electron Microscope Center (EMC) of Shenzhen University for the help in TEM, SEM, and EDS characterizations with double spherical aberration corrected transmission electron microscope.

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