Tribological evaluation of some potential tribo materials used in column lift rolling contacts—A case study

The friction and wear characteristics of some potential tribological pairs aimed for the wheel/rail rolling contact in column lifts were studied. Tribo tests were performed using a pin-on-disc equipment and the tribological pairs included; stainless steel against ball bearing steel, stainless steel against WC/C-coated ball bearing steel and stainless steel against cast nylon (polyamide 6). The influence of coating surface topography as well as stainless steel surface topography on the friction and wear behaviour of the tribological pairs was investigated.The results show that the WC/C-coating significantly improves the tribological performance of the stainless steel/ball bearing steel sliding couples but that the WC/C-coating show a limited life-time in sliding contact with stainless steel under the prevailing contact conditions. In contrast, the stainless steel/ball bearing steel sliding couples suffer from high friction and wear due to strong adhesion between the mating surfaces followed by metal transfer and severe adhesive wear. The stainless steel/cast nylon sliding couples show a somewhat intermediate behaviour regarding friction and wear where the friction is controlled by the generation of a polymer transfer film and wear of the cast nylon is controlled by the surface topography of the mating stainless steel surface. The results obtained are discussed in relation to the identified friction and wear mechanisms as characterized by SEM and EDX.

Research highlights
► Adhesive wear may cause problems in column lifts using stainless steel rails.
► PVD coated bearing wheels or bearing wheels made of cast nylon reduces adhesion and friction.
► A polishing post treatment of the PVD coating will further improve the performance.
► Wear of the cast nylon is controlled by the topography of the counter surface.