Design and development of a tribometer for the measurement of friction

• Main Author: Muhammad Rusydi Abdul Rahman
• Other Authors: School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering; DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering::Control engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/61362
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

As friction is present various mechanical systems, such as brakes, clutches, bearings, etc., it is important that the full effects of friction is understood. This is so the designer can either eliminate or; design around or with the friction in mind. This is an important aspect as friction can come across as a form of disturbance in the system and may cause a safety issue if unaddressed. Therefore, the need to understand friction is very important. This objective of this project is to accurately characterise friction under different loadings at different displacements. To do this, a tribometer has to be developed that could allow for the generation of frictional force under different loadings and displacement functions to replicate different scenarios. However, the accuracy of the results is dependent on the accuracy and reliability of the developed tribometer. As such, the project placed a great emphasis on the optimisation of the tribometer. Various efforts were made to isolate any vibrations from the different parts of the tribometer in order not to affect the data collection. PI controllers were used to provide correct any errors from the output displacement signal with the input signal. This is also an equally important part of the optimisation of the tribometer so as to be able to correctly characterise friction against the displacement or velocity. The results of the experiments will then be compared with existing theory and the various friction models that are relevant to the conducted. The report will then conclude with an overview of the work done as well as highlighting the limitations of the design and experiments as well as provide some recommendations for future work.