Wazau TRM 1000 User manual

DR.-ING. GEORG WAZAU Mess- + Prüfsysteme GmbH
Keplerstraße 12 > D-10589 Berlin > Germany > Fon +49-30-344 30 88(89), Fax +49-30-3441976
Web www.wazau.com, E-Mail [email protected]
Manual
TRIBOMETER
TYPE TRM 1000
Rev. 02-2007

0. INTRODUCTION 2
1. CONNECTING CONTROL RACK, TEST RIG AND PC 3
1.1 COMPONENTS .................................................................................................................................................. 4
1.1.1 CONTROL RACK ............................................................................................................................................ 4
1.1.2 COMPUTER.................................................................................................................................................... 6
1.1.3 TEST RIG ...................................................................................................................................................... 6
1.1.4 ELECTRICAL CONNECTIONS ........................................................................................................................... 8
2. CONTROL RACK 9
2.1 MODULE OUTPUT ........................................................................................................................................... 9
2.2 MODULE FORCE ........................................................................................................................................... 10
2.3 MODULE WEAR ............................................................................................................................................. 11
2.4 MODULE TORQUE ........................................................................................................................................ 12
2.5 MODULE TEMPERATURE............................................................................................................................. 13
2.6 MODULE MOTORCONTROL......................................................................................................................... 14
2.7 MODULE FORCE CONTROLLER.................................................................................................................. 15
2.8 MODULE FRICTION FORCE (OPTION) ........................................................................................................... 16
3. TEST RIG 18
3.1 MOUNTING THE SPECIMENS ............................................................................................................................ 19
3.2 STANDARD SPECIMEN POT FOR LUBRICATED TESTS ........................................................................................ 20
3.3 BALL HOLDER /PIN HOLDER ............................................................................................................................ 21
3.4 DISC HOLDER................................................................................................................................................. 22
3.5 MOUNTING OF THE RING HEATER (OPTION) ..................................................................................................... 23
3.6 COMPRESSED AIR CONDITIONING .................................................................................................................... 24
4. TRIBOMETER SOFTWARE 25
4.1 SOFTWARE INSTALLATION ...............................................................................................................................25
4.1.1 USB SERIAL CONTROLLER .......................................................................................................................... 26
4.1.2 MCC DAQ .................................................................................................................................................. 29
4.1.3 TRIBOCONTROL........................................................................................................................................... 32
4.2 SETUP WINDOW ............................................................................................................................................. 35
4.3 MEASURING SETTINGS AND LIMITS -SUBWINDOW ............................................................................................ 36
4.4 PROGRAM SELECTION SUBWINDOW ................................................................................................................ 37
4.4.1 MODE ROTATION ......................................................................................................................................... 37
4.4.2 MODE RAMPS.............................................................................................................................................. 38
4.4.3 MODE OSCILLATION..................................................................................................................................... 38
4.4.4 MODE LINEAR OSCILLATION......................................................................................................................... 40
4.5 DATA FILE SETUP WINDOW ............................................................................................................................. 41
4.6 CONTROL WINDOW......................................................................................................................................... 42
4.6.1 PLOT COLUMNS........................................................................................................................................... 42
4.6.2 NUMERICAL DISPLAY ................................................................................................................................... 43

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4.6.3 FURTHER BUTTONS AND DISPLAYS............................................................................................................... 44
4.6.4 CONTROLLER TEMPERATURE....................................................................................................................... 44
4.6.5 CONTROLLER FORCE................................................................................................................................... 44
4.6.6 MENU OPTIONS ........................................................................................................................................... 45
4.6.6.1 Settings................................................................................................................................................... 45
4.6.6.2 Autotuning Temperature / Normal Force ................................................................................................ 46
4.6.6.3 Lift Operation .......................................................................................................................................... 46
4.7 ANALYSIS WINDOW......................................................................................................................................... 47
4.8 RECIPE CONTROLLER ..................................................................................................................................... 48
5. STARTING A TEST 53
5.1 TURNING ON AND OFF ..................................................................................................................................... 53
5.2 INSTALLING SPECIMENS /OFFSET ADJUSTMENT ............................................................................................... 54
6. SETTING UP THE WEAR MEASURING SYSTEM 55
7. LINEAR OSCILLATION (OPTION) 57
7.1 LINEAR OSCILLATION ...................................................................................................................................... 58
7.1.1 ADJUSTING THE AMPLITUDE ......................................................................................................................... 59
7.1.2 ASSEMBLY OF THE LINEAR OSCILLATION ...................................................................................................... 60
7.1.3 DISASSEMBLY OF THE LINEAR OSCILLATION ................................................................................................. 61
7.2 AIR-BEARING UNIT.......................................................................................................................................... 62
7.2.1 ASSEMBLY AIR-BEARING UNIT...................................................................................................................... 63
8. FOUR-BALL APPARATUS (OPTION) 64
8.1 MOUNTING BALL CARRIER .............................................................................................................................. 65
8.2 ASSEMBLY BALL HOLDER................................................................................................................................ 66
9. SPECIMEN DIMENSIONS 67

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0. INTRODUCTION
The tribometer serves for the investigation and simulation of friction and wear processes under sliding conditions. It can be
operated for solid state friction without lubrication and for boundary lubrication with liquid lubricants. Thus both material
and lubricant tests can be executed.
According to the standard test principle a stationary test specimen (pin or disc) with a defined normal force is pressed
against the surface of a rotary disc. Both specimens are perpendicularly arranged one on the other whereby the rotary
disc is on top. Other test configurations are possible. The normal force is applied by the movable drive block and the drive
spindle. The normal force is damped by means of a spring located below the linear table. The tribometer is driven by a
servo motor steplessly adjustable from 0.1 rpm to 3000 rpm.
The actual test equipment essentially consists of the motor unit, the drive and the load section. The shiftable modules are
one on the other fastened to two perpendicularly columns. Pin and disc are in a specimen pot heatable up to approx. 150
°C. During the test the normal force, the temperature inside the pot, the linear wear amount of both specimens and the
friction torque are continuously measured.
The measurement of the normal force is done by a force sensor arranged between counter load spring and lower
specimen restraint. The temperature is measured by a NiCr-Ni-thermocouple in the pot. The wear is measured over the
changing displacement between lower and upper specimen restraint. The measurement is done contactlessly by a laser-
optical displacement sensor. The friction torque is measured by a rotary torque sensor.
All measuring signals are transferred to the control rack to be conditioned there. Data acquisition is done by an USB
measuring module with a solution of 16 bit. The measured values of rotational speed and temperature are digitally
monitored with temperature values sampled at 2 Hz and rotational speed sampled at 5 Hz.

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Specification
Strain collective
Type of motion Sliding
Mode of motion Continuous
Normal force By means of a drive-spindle system adjustable from 5 – 1000 N
Rotational speed From 0.1 to 3000 rpm steplessly adjustable
Testing temperature From RT to 150 °C steplessly adjustable
Tribological values Measured value
FR – friction force FR= M/r
M = torque
r = friction track radius
=> friction coefficient FR / FN
FN= Normal Force
wl – wear amount displacement (abrasion)
=> wear rate wl/t t = time
T - Temperature
1. Connecting Control Rack, Test Rig and PC
1 Connect PC and control rack via USB cable cable (see Software Installation).
2 Connect the sensor interface cable and the sensors with the slide-in unit of the control rack.
3 Connect the cables of the drive and the lift-drive as well as the heater.
4 Set up the power supply for three-phase alternating current 3x400 VAC/50 Hz and 230 VAC.
Hint: All plugs match only with the corresponding socket connector on the control rack except for the RS-232/USB
converter cable.

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1.1 Components
1.1.1 Control Rack
The control rack incorporates the plug-in unit with all amplifiers and power supply for all modules, the drive controller, and
the drive itself. The compressed air conditioning and the main power switch are located at the bottom of the control rack.
Control Rack
Slide-in unit of the control rack

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Main switch and compressed air conditioning
Rear side of the control rack with connections for lead, drive, lift, heater, and compressed air (IN/OUT)

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Rear side of the control rack with removed rear wall to change fuses
1.1.2 Computer
The USB measuring module and the RS 232/USB converter cable for data acquisition and controlling the test rig are
connected to the computer.
1.1.3 Test Rig
The test rig represents the mechanical measuring unit other add-in modules can be added to.

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Sensor Interface
TEMPERATURE Type-K Thermocouple input for specimen pot and IR ring heater (if connected).
FORCE Normal force sensor input.
The sensor inputs are automatically identified by its coded plugs and assigned to the corresponding measuring ranges of
the software. Plug in a sensor’s plug carefully to prevent the pins of the multi-pole plugs from bending which may cause a
bad electrical contact or no contact at all.
Normal Force Sensor Markings
8435 – 5200200 N Measuring range
8435 – 5500500 N Measuring range
8435 – 60011000 N Measuring range
8435 – 60022000 N Measuring range
8435 – 60055000 N Measuring range
Heating System Connection
By means of the slot the feedback control system is connected to heating system of the specimen pot.

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1.1.4 Electrical Connections
Power supply: Three-phase current connection 3 x 400 V/50 Hz, plug: 5 x CEE plug, 5 x 32 A.
If a FI risidual-current circuit-breaker is used, it must be suitable for applications for frequency inverters (suitable for type
U).
Fuses
The conrol rack contains fuses on the rear side for he following loads:
Drive Fuse (F1) 3x16 A type C
Slide-in unit Fuse (F2) 6 A E 14
Circuit board “Brake” Fuse (F3) 2 A E 14
Power Supply Unit„Lift“ Fuse (F4) 2 A E 14
Heater Fuse (F5) 10 A E 14
Plug-in unit Fine fuses 2 x 2A 5 x 20 mm slow-blow fuse
There are two fine fuses on the rear side of the control rack.

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2. Control Rack
The following modules are located in the control rack:
■Module OUTPUT
■Module FORCE
■Module WEAR
■Module TORQUE
■Module TEMPERATURE CONTROLLER
■Moduel MOTORCONTROL (drive)
■Module FORCE CONTROLLER
■Module FRICTION FORCE (option)
2.1 Module OUTPUT
The module OUTOUT connects the measuring channels to the computer by means of an USB
interface. The accuracy of the data acquisition is 16 bit. The USB interface should be connected
to a USB 2.0 computer port in order to obtain an optimal function.

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2.2 Module FORCE
In order to achieve a precise measurement the normal force-amplifier has to be calibrated in
an unloaded condition prior to the setup of the tribometer (offset adjustment). The calibration
is done to eliminate influences on the sensor that may cause measuring errors such as the
deadweight of the specimen pot or other parts. In addition there is always a 4 Hz low-pass
enabled to eliminate interfering signals. The normal force sensor is secured against
overloading by a limit switch. The alarm curcuit shuts down drive and heater if a force is
reached extending the maximum measuring range by 1% (1010 N). The limit switch is
always active. A re-start of drive and heater cannot be conducted until the cause of error has
been eliminated and the button “Reset” on the software interface has been pressed. Before
adjusting the offset let the normal force control system (containing spindle drive, spindle,
normal force sensor, spring) deflect. To do this push slightly once the 4-column linear-table
and release it thereafter so that the system can adjust itself. That step has also to be
repeated everytime after a load has been applied on the linear-table by the normal force
control system to avoid a wrong reading of the measured force value of the normal force
sensor.
1) To calibrate the amplifier all specimen adapter and specimen pot, if required, have to be mounted to the test rig. If
lubricated tests are to be conducted the lubricant has to be filled into the specimen pot and the covers have to be mounted
to be regarded for calibration, too.
2) Press the button „ZERO“ on the software for simultaneous offset adjustment of TORQUE and FORCE, or press the
button Lift “DOWN”. Then the offset will be automatically adjusted within a range of 0.05 % or the measuring range.
The three green LED indicate that the slide-in unit is powered with a operating voltage of ± 15 V and + 5V. The socket
„Sensor II“ connects to the amplifier modules Normal Force and Temperature.

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2.3 Module WEAR
Pushing the tracer „Wear Off“ on the software enables or disables the measuring channel
„Wear“. If “Wear” is disabled the offset adjustment will not be conducted.
The displacement sensor is secured against overloading by a limit switch. The alarm shuts
down drive and heater if the displacement (wear) exceeds the maximum measuring range of
the laser-optical displacement sensor or if the measuring system has an error. The measuring
range of the laser-optical displacement sensor is ± 5000 µm. Due to the positioning of the
displacement measuring system and the offset adjustment before the test the maximum
measuring range decreases down to ± 4500 µm. The limit switch is only enabled during a test.
That means if the drive is enabled. A re-start of the drive and the heater is only possible after
the cause of error was eliminated and the button “Reset” on the software was pressed.
Socket III connects to the laser-optical displacement measurement. The setup of the
displacement (wear) measuring system is described in chapter 6.
IMPORTANT! Never put your hand inside the beam of the laser-optical sensor after a test was started. This would be
taken as an error of the system. The test will then be stopped by an overload signal.
IMPORTANT! F LASER RADIATION !
LASER CLASS 2.
Do not look into the beam!

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2.4 Module TORQUE
Pressing the tracer „Torque RMS“ on the software interface enables the root mean square
(RMS) rectifier. In addition there is a 25 Hz low-pass enabled to disable interfering signals.
The torque shaft is secured against overloading by a limit switch. The alarm shuts down
drive and heater if the measured torque exceeds the maximum measuring range by 1 % (±
10.1 Nm). The limit switch is always enabled. A re-start of the drive and the heater is only
possible after the cause of error was eliminated and the button “Reset” on the software was
pressed. The socket Sensor I connects to the torque shaft.

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2.5 Module TEMPERATURE
Control parameters and requested values are set on the software. The
temperature controll cannot be changed manually as it is locked. The heater
is secured against overloading by a limit switch.
The alarm shuts down drive and heater if the temperature exceeds the
maximum temperature range by 15°C or if the thermocouple is broken. The
limit switch is always enabled. A re-start of the drive and the heater is only
possible after the cause of error has been eliminated and the button “Reset”
on the software has been pressed. The RS 232 socket connects to the
computer via an USB hub, thus controlling the temperature.

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2.6 Module MOTORCONTROL
Pushing the tracer „BLOCKING" on the software blocks the drive shaft. That way the operator
can loosen or tighten the screws of the specimen adapter easier. The torque shaft is secured
against overloading by a limit switch. The alarm enables the blocking function if the measured
torque exceeds the maximum measuring range by 1% (± 10.1 Nm).
The green LED +24V indicates that the operating voltage supplies the slide-in unit. The green
LED AIR indicates that the operating air pressure of 5 bar supplies the air-bearing spindle. The
red LED BRAKE indicates that the drive’s brake is enabled. In this state the drive cannot be
enabled. The brake is active if the tribometer is off or if there is a loss of pressure. The socket
“Control” connects to the control interface at the rear side of the drive block. The RS 232 socket
connects to the computer by means of a USB hub, thus controlling the drive.
The compressed air supply on the air-bearing spindle is released automatically. Once operating
voltage and compressed air supplies the control rack the air will be conditioned for the membran
dryer. It takes the membrane dryer up to 15 minutes until the air is optimal dried. After that
process the compressed air is automatically applied on the air-bearing spindle. Hereafter the
tribometer is ready for operation. Possible mountings on the sprecimen holder can then be
carried out.
AIR LED states:
red shining - Compressed air of 7 - 8 bar does not supply the control rack.
red blinking - Air conditioning of 15 min. Has been started.
green shining - Compressed air of 5 bar supplies the air-bearing spindle (tribometer is ready for operation).
IMPORTANT! Do not assemble or disassemble the specimen holder at the air-bearing spindle as long as the
compressed air does not supply the air-bearing spindle. Only if the LED Air shines green the air pressure is supplied.
IMPORTANT! Applying the emergency stop switch will cause an overload which is reset after the emergency stop switch
was released.
IMPORTANT! Only operate drive, air-bearing spindle, and torque shaft if normal force (load) is applied on the specimen
pairing. An idling run is not allowed!

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IMPORTANT! The controls of the air conditioning of the air-bearing spindle requires a pressure of 7 - 8 bar. The
pressure has to be applied on the system spontaneously. A slow increase of the pressure leads to a malfunction of the
switch thresholds so that the controls of the air conditioning won’t start.
2.7 Module FORCE CONTROLLER
Control parameters and requested values are set on the software. Manual
changes are not possible since the force controller is locked. The normal
force sensor is secured against overloading by a limit switch. The alarm
circuit shuts down drive and heater if a force is reached extending the
maximum measuring range by 1% (1010 N or 202 N respectively).
The limit swith is always active. A re-start of the drive and the heater is only
possible after the cause of error was eliminated and the button “Reset” on the
software was pressed. The RS 232 socket connects to the computer via a
USB hub, thus controlling the force controller.

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2.8 Module FRICTION FORCE (option)
Pressing the tracer „Torque RMS“ on the software interface enables the root mean square
(RMS) rectifier. In addition there is a 25 Hz low-pass enabled to disable interfering signals. The
friction force sensor is secured against overloading by a limit switch. The alarm shuts down
drive and heater if the the measured friction force exceeds the maximum measuring range by 1
% (± 101 N). The limit switch is always enabled. A re-start of the drive and the heater is only
possible after the cause of error has been eliminated and the button “Reset” on the software
has been pressed. The socket Sensor IV connects to the friction force amplifier.
The compressed air supply on the air-bearing spindle is released automatically. Once operating
voltage and compressed air supplies the control the air will be conditioned for the membran
dryer. It takes the membrane dryer up to 15 minutes until the air is optimally dried. After that
process the compressed air is automatically applied on the air-bearing spindle. Hereafter the
tribometer is ready for operation. Possible mountings on the sprecimen holder can then be
carried out.
IMPORTANT! Do not assemble or disassemble the specimen holder at the air-bearing spindle as long as the
compressed air does not supply the air-bearing spindle. Only if the LED Air shines green the air pressure is supplied and
the air-bearing has been connected by a quick coupling.

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Sensor interface
FRICTION FORCE Friction force sensor input
The sensor inputs are automatically identified by its coded plugs and assigned to the corresponding measuring ranges of
the software.
Plug in a sensor’s plug carefully to prevent the pins of the multi-pole plugs from bending which may
cause a bad electrical contact or no contact at all.

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3. Test Rig
Lift jig with crane
e
y
elets
Drive
Torque shaft
Emergency stop
switch
Drive block
Air-bearing
spindle with
Displacement
(wear) measuring
system
Lift drive
Specimen and
module area
Linear table
Test Rig
Sensor interface
Normal force
sensor
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