Tribological investigation of a low-frequency reciprocating platform

In order to overcome limitations of tribological testing techniques for MEMS micro-components, a novel micro-tribometer testing system for determining tribological properties on metal, non-metal, and polymer surfaces has been developed. Based on the operating principle of a reciprocating platform and related mathematical motion models, a variable frequency oscillating mechanism driven by an electromagnetic coil was designed to achieve reciprocating sliding of samples and a new measuring head was applied for normal loads. Steel, glass, and PTFE against a metal ball were used arbitrarily to test the developed device repeatedly under various normal loads and oscillation frequencies. The transient friction force and friction coefficients for different friction pairs were measured. Experimental results show that the developed low-frequency reciprocating platform can simulate relative sliding of fretting friction under small milli-Newton normal loads. The obtained experimental results are consistent with those of other studies, which means the low-frequency reciprocating platform can stably operate and is reliable for use in research on tribological properties.