Abstract

In this work, a rational approach based on Taguchi technique and Pin-on-disk test is used in order to study the friction coefficient behaviour of clutch facings as function of material formulation. Experiments were designed according to the orthogonal array L8 where the chosen factors are temperature and sliding speed. A complex interaction exists between the surface texture of the produced clutch facings and the used manufacturing process parameters, particularly those associated to molding and grinding operations. Since it is not straightforward to render this effect in terms of explicit factors, it is roughly considered here as noise affecting a chosen wear path during Pin-on-disk testing. Signal over noise ratio should be sufficiently high in order that qualification of test results obtained for a given material formulation could be possible. For the set of parameters considered during the actual experiment, the friction coefficient behavior of clutch facings was shown to be mainly controlled by the sliding speed or by the interaction between the sliding speed and temperature.

Key words: Friction coefficient, clutch facings, pin-on-disk, Taguchi method.