Chaotic dynamic analysis of electrical contact resistance measured in sliding current-carrying friction

• Published in: Tribology international Vol. 200; p. 110178
• Main Authors: Zhao, Huan, Feng, Yu, Wu, Kai, Wu, Shaolei, Wang, Wei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.12.2024
• Subjects: Chaos; Electrical contact resistance; Phase trajectory; Sliding current-carrying friction; Chaos; Phase trajectory; Sliding current-carrying friction; Electrical contact resistance
• ISSN: 0301-679X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.triboint.2024.110178

This work explores the dynamic laws of electrical contact resistance (ECR) signals measured in the sliding current-carrying friction tests based on chaos theory. It is found that ECR time series have a chaotic nature, strongly verified by the positive largest Lyapunov exponent λ1. The chaos may originate from the combined friction effects on short and long timescales. Phase space analysis indicates that the ECR phase trajectory adheres to the “convergence–stability” evolution law over time, which pertains closely to energy dissipation. Hence, the chaotic attractor exists during current-carrying friction. Strikingly, wear surfaces confirm that the ECR phase trajectory evolution process corresponds to the stages of “formation–keeping” of the chaotic attractor, and also agrees with the electrical wear stages of “running-in–steady-state”. Further, the chaos quantifier variation is consistent with the phase space analysis results to identify wear transition quantitatively.