University of Delaware - College of Engineering
MATERIALS TRIBOLOGY LABORATORY
Hierarchical composites provide ultra-low wear without lubrication
Friction force microscopy reveals new insights about the atomic origins of friction
In-situ microtribometry provides new insights into the initiation, progression, and treatment of osteoarthritis
In-situ tribometry provides direct observational access to the buried tribological interface
Co-sputtering offers unique control over the nanocomposite structure of ultra-low wear materials
Instrumenting UD's G90 helps elucidate the effects of non-uniform wind fields on premature drivetrain failure
Probing the sliding interface directly provides novel insights into lubrication and wear mechanisms of cartilage
Solid lubricant coatings keep satellites moving in extreme extraterrestrial environments
Interferometry through transparent bodies probes effects of roughness and real contact areas on friction
Trace loadings of 40nm nanoparticles reduce wear of Teflon by 99.99%

Transfer Film Characterization

We have developed a program using MatLab to quantitatively characterize trasnfer film quality. The Wear article, Quantitative Characterization of Solid Lubricant Transfer Film Quality, describes the rationale behind the code's development. The output is a single parameter descriptor of the characteristic length of bare areas of counterface. We propose that the size-scale of these domains influence wear by limiting the characteristic size-scale of adhesive contacts and the resulting debris. At the limit of 100% coverage, this size-scale is reduced to zero and wear rates approach an assymtotic limit for the self-mated solid lubricant.

Calibration images from the paper are provided to the right; you should be able to duplicate the free-space length of the transfer film for each. The automated mode helps to locate the approximate free-space length. We recommend manual iteration with large sampling sizes (~5000) for final calculations. Manual mode is also useful for obtaining statistics.

Click here to access the Transfer Film Characterization Code

Click here to access a tutorial

Right click and save bmp calibration images:
(a) (b) (c) (d)