A Study on Friction Characteristics of Multiple Groove Pulleys with Anodizing Coated Aluminum

Abstract

Considering the mechanism of the pulley, to prevent slipping from the belt, analysis of friction coefficient characteristic is important. Aluminum material is used in weight reduction. Uncoated aluminum materials have low friction coefficient characteristics between V-belt. It is needed to analyze mutual friction coefficient characteristics between coated aluminum material and V-belt.
This is an experimental study on friction characteristics of multiple groove pulleys with anodized surface aluminum. I performed correlating friction test between a belt made of synthetic rubber and anodizing coated pulley made of aluminum 6000 series. A pin-on-disc friction test was performed to observe changes in friction coefficient and equivalent friction coefficient of the Multiple Groove pulley during rotational velocity change. Based on the result, frictional characteristics of coated and non-coated aluminum pulley were analyzed. The results were compared to that of the previously studied non-coated aluminum product and made a correlated comparison analysis.
The friction coefficient of coated aluminum increases steeply at the beginning and maintained equivalent friction coefficient of around 0.66 in a stable manner from the beginning of acceleration, and also during deceleration till reaching around 40rpm. This indicates that the coated aluminum will not slip in acceleration or deceleration and it is a similar tendency to steel. According to the friction test, we can say coated aluminum is suitable for manufacturing pulley because it shows a similar frictional tendency to steel. However, raw aluminum is inappropriate for pulley manufacture since it is very slippery compared to steel.
The coated aluminum is suitable for manufacturing pulley because it will not slip in acceleration or deceleration and it shows a similar frictional tendency to steel. The pulley made of anodizing coated aluminum can be used to reduce the weight of the power transmission system in comparison to steel and increase the power transmission efficiency compared to raw aluminum.