Mechanism of scuffing - a dynamic system model

Scuffing, a major cause of failure in automobile engines, is considered as a dynamic process in this study. Local adhesions may occur randomly in lubr icated contacts due to the existence of asperity contact and breakdown of l ubricating films. Scuffing would take place if the local events develop rap idly into a large-scale plastic deformation and catastrophic failure. A sys tem dynamic established in the present paper allows one to predict dynamic behavior of a tribological system through numerical solutions of a group of differential equations. A simplified analysis based on this model confirms that the system will develop into a state of instability if the friction f orce at the interface increases with temperature.