Tribological Tests

Selected manufacturing processes are optimised by testing of improved materials, surface processes and coatings. This covers e.g. vacuum: in case of automated coating plants, the transportation system has to work in vacuum and to avoid any contamination.

As in aeronautics materials may be hard to machine, AAC applies its cold welding expertise towards wear of tools for cutting and milling processes. Using our forming tribometer, friction factors are determined for selected material-tool-combinations as input parameters for the simulation of their forming processes. Apart from that, also lubricants are validated for their performance under the extreme high contact pressures in forming. The forming tribometer offers load up to 200kN and temperatures up to 900°C.

AAC runs a wide set of tribological test devices offering time and cost efficient validation under extreme environments starting on material level e.g. vacuum tribometer, cryo-tribometer, slipring-tribometer, cold welding / fretting test facility. Tests on component or sub-component level cover ball bearing, journal bearing test, gears and slip rings are available. Performance can be validated by properties like friction, wear, electrical contact resistance, stiffness and transmission accuracy for gears, and finally endurance (life time).