A reciprocating optical in situ tribometer with high-speed data acquisition.

Tribology is the science of interacting surfaces in relative motion. Processes like the transition from static to dynamic friction are fast and complex, especially as the contacting interface is buried. A direct view at the interface, in order to gain a deeper understanding of the interaction between the materials, is therefore of great interest. The reciprocating optical in situ tribometer introduced here observes the interface of two contacting materials (one of them being optical transparent) with a high-speed camera, taking up to 230 000 frames per second. The camera is attached to an optical microscope with a magnification of up to 2500 times. Friction forces are measured by an analog laser detection setup, with a maximum sampling rate of 500 kHz. The sliding motion of the materials is realized by two displacement units. A linear positioning stage allows velocities between 500 nm/s and 100 mm/s for a maximum distance of 200 mm. For smaller velocities, and to exclude breakaway torque, a piezo actuator can be used. The maximum displacement distance of the piezo actuator is 120 μm. The smallest applicable normal load on the samples is 0.5 N which is applied by the dead weights. Tribological experiments to investigate the transition from static to dynamic friction have been performed with morphologically textured brass hemispheres in contact with the sapphire discs. Sapphire was chosen for its high hardness and optical transparency. These experiments revealed, due to the high data acquisition possible with the new setup, a so far unobserved effect during the transition from static to dynamic friction.