Estimation of real contact area during sliding friction from interface temperature

Frictional heat is one of the most important topics in tribological research. The real contact area of the frictional pair plays a significant role in accurately estimating the interface temperature, which is closely related to the frictional heat. However, conventional methods for measuring the contact area, such as constriction resistance measurements, are not suitable for dynamic frictional motion because of the electrical and thermal interferences at the contact region. In this study, a novel method is presented for estimating the real contact area during sliding friction. First, the average interface temperature was experimentally measured by the dynamic thermocouple method. Then assuming that the total frictional heat power is constant, the measured temperature was used as a constraint to determine the contact area in a finite element model, giving an estimation for the real contact area. The calculation results show that the real contact area increases with increasing normal load as predicted by contact theories, and decreases with increasing sliding speed, which could be attributable to the contact dynamics of asperities at the interface. Additionally, the limits of the proposed method is discussed.