A CFD study of a pin-on-disc tribometer setup focusing on airborne particle sampling efficiency

• One of the most important measures to evaluate air quality is the presence of particles. Pin-on-disc tribometers are used to study airborne wear particles originating from different sliding contacts in a controlled laboratory environment. One important aspect when measuring airborne particles is to ensure isokinetic sampling conditions. Another important aspect is that the concentration and the particles distribution entering the sampling probe are representative for the emissions generated. It is therefore important to have an estimation of the sampling efficiency of the test system. The aim of this paper is to investigate the particle sampling efficiency of a pin-on-disc tribometer setup. In addition, a modified sampling setup that allows isokinetic sampling is investigated. CFD simulations to investigate air and particle motion were performed for both the existing and the modified configuration. The results show that the velocity field at the outlet does not allow isokinetic sampling for the existing configuration. In the modified configuration a sampling pipe is used to make isokinetic sampling possible. A comparison between the two configurations show that the modified configuration increases the sampling efficiency with almost 40% for ultrafine particles and about 20% for fine and coarse particles. It remains to validate the CFD simulations with experiments.

Ämnesord

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Maskinteknik -- Tribologi (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Mechanical Engineering -- Tribology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Machine Design

Maskinkonstruktion

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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