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Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

The effect of film thickness on the behavior of polystyrene-coated steel disks under fretting conditions

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of film thickness on a polystyrene coating used to prevent fretting corrosion in a steel-on-steel system. The polystyrene coating was applied to a 1045 steel disk and fretted against a 52100 steel ball. Two sets of experiments were employed. The first set evaluated film life by using seven different film thicknesses ranging from 7.9 to 52 um. The results from this set of experiments indicated that a drastic increase in film life occurred for coatings thicker than 40 pm. The other set of experiments was used to study how fretting damage progressed with time and how it was affected by film thickness. For this purpose two film thicknesses, 38 and 52 μm, were used. The results from these experiments led to the speculation that stress and temperature conditions were different in the 38 and 52 μm films. These differences resulted in a milder fretting regime, and therefore longer life, in the thicker film. Optical and scanning electron microscopy and computer graphics were used to study in detail the fretting interface. The fretting mechanisms were explained in terms of mechanical, chemical, tribochemical, and tribophysical effects.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Science
Level thesis:degree_level
masters
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Mechanical Engineering
Department dc:contributor.department
Mechanical Engineering
Grantor dc:publisher
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Year dc:date.issued
1987

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Raciti, Romolo

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • In Copyright
Language dc:language.iso
en_US

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Handle dc:identifier.uri
http://hdl.handle.net/10919/53156
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/53156

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Virginia Tech
Base URL
vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
related terms
citation

Raciti, Romolo. The effect of film thickness on the behavior of polystyrene-coated steel disks under fretting conditions. masters thesis, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1987. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/53156