TE 75 Rubber Friction Test Machine

Overview

The TE 75 Rubber Friction Test Machine measures frictional behaviour of rubbery materials and can be configured to test cosmetic products using a suitable model for human skin. Normal load is applied by dead-weights with a stated normal load range of 0.1 to 50 N and a friction force measurement range of 0 to 50 N. The loading beam is trunnion and gimble mounted, counterbalanced to bring the centre of gravity onto the contact plane, and its lift/drop is servo controlled; the beam is restrained by a strain gauge force transducer in a sliding link and the load and force axes are at right angles so that tangential force measurement is independent of sample misalignment or indentation. Motion is provided by crossed X and Y linear slides with 1 mm pitch lead screws driven by geared dc motors (motor: 125 W dc); X stroke is 1 to 50 mm and X axis speed ranges are 0.9 mm/s to 10 mm/s, 0.05 to 0.9 mm/s and 0.01 to 0.09 mm/s, with interchangeable belt reductions giving a 1000:1 overall speed turn-down, while the Y axis has a maximum index speed of 10 mm/min and Y Index ± 9 mm in 0.5 mm steps. Temperature control is ambient to 100°C using a 150 W heater with J-type thermocouple feedback, and the machine has a humidity sensor with a range of 10 to 90% RH; the TE 75/C cooler pad option provides minimum temperatures of -15°C (ambient water cooled) or -30°C (chiller water/glycol cooled) when used with an RE 75/C Laboratory Chiller using 50:50 Water/Glycol. Control and data acquisition are implemented via a host PC running COMPEND 2020 with a Phoenix Tribology USB micro-controller interface, recorded data may be stored as .csv or .tsv, and measured parameters include X Position, Y Position, Humidity, Temperature, Friction and Friction Coefficient. The bench-mounting machine footprint and mass are 570 x 600 x 600 mm high, 40 kg and the bench-mounting cabinet is 530 x 530 x 240 mm high, 20 kg; packing specification is 0.59 m3, GW 120 kg, NW 70 kg. The TE 75 is used to investigate frictional behaviour of rubbery materials in dry and lubricated environments and to study the friction of cosmetic products using a suitable model for human skin. Typical contact configurations supported include ball on rubber flat (ball on plate), plate on plate, plate on hemisphere and ball-on-flat or reverse, and thin rubber sheet samples may be clamped against a rubber backing while threads, gloves and seals may be tested using suitable holders. The instrument’s programmable dwell period (user selectable in seconds up to 8 hours), selectable stroke and indexing modes (INDEX = 0, INDEX > 0, LOOP), and the ability to run tests on continuously fresh surface or on the same wear track support studies of start-up friction, direction-dependent wear, hysteresis and phenomena such as Schallamach waves. Environmental control features include a plastic safety cover that acts as a humidity chamber with an ambient temperature and humidity sensor, a heater for ambient to 100°C operation, and the TE 75/C cooler pad with laboratory chiller option for sub-ambient testing (minimum temperatures of -15°C or -30°C depending on cooling arrangement); the cooler pad is recommended to be used with a desiccant dehumidifier and controlled air supply to avoid ice formation.