ABSTRACT
In this, work, metal inserts were joined with polyamide 6 by using the injection-molding technique. The metal parts, made of steel grade DC 04, were mechanically interlocked with polyamide 6 (PA6) by rivets as a mechanical connection between both components in the form of s polymer filling the holes in the metallic parts. The mechanical-interlocking joints made of steel/PA6 were mechanically tested in a tensile-lap-shear test. The damage behavior of the joined materials in relation to rivet number and position on the metal plate was studied. The observation of rivet deformation was also conducted by infrared IR thermography. The study showed that, for polymer-metal joined samples with fewer than three rivets, the destruction of rivets by shearing meant sample damage. On the other hand, when the polymer-metal joint was made with three or four rivets, the disruption mechanism was mostly related to the polymer part breaking. The maximal values of the joint's failure force under tensile-shear tests were achieved for samples where three rivets were used. Moreover, strong correlation was found between the surface temperature of the samples and their maximal force during the tensile-lap-shear test.
ABSTRACT
This article proposes thermography as a non-contact diagnostic tool for assessing drive reliability. The application of this technique during the operation of the belt transmission with a heat-welded thermoplastic polyurethane V-belt was presented. The V-belt temperature changes depending on the braking torque load at different values of the rotational speed of the active pulley, which were adopted as diagnostic characteristics. In this paper, the surface morphology of the polyurethane (PU) belts was assessed on the basis of microscopic and hardness tests. A surface roughness tester was used to evaluate the surface wear. The surface morphology and topography of the materials was determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and optical microscopy. It was found that the most favorable operating conditions occurred when the temperature values of active and passive connectors were similar and the temperature difference between them was small. The mechanical and structure results indicate that the wear of the PU belt was slight, which provided stability and operational reliability for V-belt transmission. The microscopic images lacked clear traces of cracks and scratches on the surface, which was confirmed by the SEM observations.
