Interfacial wear damage mechanism between Ti-alloy and Al-alloy in interference-fit joint and influence of surface coatings: Experimental and numerical study

Interfacial wear in Ti-alloy/Al-alloy interference-fit joint resulting from micro-displacement is considered one of the primary causes of structure failure. This paper described an experimental and numerical study on the interfacial wear damage mechanism between Ti-alloy and Al-alloy in interference-fit joints and revealed the influence of surface coatings. The evolution of friction coefficients (COFs), wear topography and element transfer were adopted as the characterization methods. Ploughing effect (Ti-Al) and adhering effect (Al-Ti) are two main wear mechanisms for uncoated samples. Hard-anodized film has more stable COFs and the film integrity is well maintained. Wear layer has lower COFs but is easier to be peeled off due to better lubrication and poor adhesion characteristics. A wear model considering variable COFs is established by combining energy consumption and adaptive grid technique to simulate the wear scar and predict the wear depth and volume, the predication results are in good agreement with experimental results.