Ducom Instruments

Peenya, Bangalore, Karnataka

The purpose of this tester is to characterize friction under lubricated condition using a ball on disc configuration. This tester is particularly suited for evaluating low lubricity fluids like diesel and gasoline.

The system consists of a temperature controlled stage that houses the test plate. A reciprocating arm with a ball holder to hold the test ball is pressed against the test plate with a known force. The system reciprocates maintaining the required stroke length, frequency, load, temperature and humidity.

A piezoelectric force transducer senses the frictional force. The unit is computer controlled and uses the WinDucom Data Acquisition System to record the output parameters.

The purpose is to carry out rotating bar bending fatigue tests without deliberately introducing stress concentration in accordance with DIN 50113.

A test piece mounted as a cantilever with single point loading is made to rotate and thus subjected to a bending moment. The force giving rise to the bending moment do not rotate.

Tribological properties of materials can greatly be influenced by humidity. Coatings like Diamond like Carbon (DLC) see great use in a variety of applications ranging from hard drives and automotive engines to biomedical applications. Each of these applications presents very different operating conditions which includes humidity conditions. DLC is also known to have friction properties that vary greatly with humidity. It is therefore extremely important to characterize materials for their tribological properties by including their performance dependency on parameters like humidity.

The Ducom Humidity Generator is a stand-alone system that can easily be plugged into any compatible Ducom Tribometer. This extends the capability of your existing or new tribometer to include the ability to carry out tests and understand material behavior under a variety of humidity conditions.

The Ducom Humidity Controller is capable of producing an output of dry or humid air to control conditions within the test area. A combination of dry and humid air is used to create an environment of the required RH. The Humidity Controller comes with a humidity sensor that is placed within the test area and requires oil free and dust free pneumatic input. The system is self-contained with respect to drying and humidification systems and requires very little maintenance. For proper operation, the tribometer is required to have a Humidity Controller compatible enclosure.