The Automated Universal Tribotester (AUT) represents a fully automated reduced scale brake dynamometer. The setup is based on the pin-on-disc principle and the specifically designed load unit was recently enhanced with an adaptive anti-tilting system.

With the conventional load unit, long bedding processes are applied after a change in load to enable a full surface contact. For short-term variations in loads, the specimens angle has to be closely controlled to generate valid results for wear and emission measurements. For this purpose, an adaptive control system was designed and implemented in the AUT, which is published elsewhere.

This paper compares measurements of a pin-on-disk tester equipped with an adaptive system to control the specimens contact angle (adaptive pin-on-disk) to a test setup with disabled adaptive control (conventional pin-on-disk). During friction measurements, the specimen angle and the emissions around the friction contact are recorded to get a detailed insight into wear and emission dynamics. Furthermore, the coefficient of friction is correlated to the occurring specimen angles.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Georg-Peter Ostermeyer, Head of Institute, TU Braunschweig; Mr. Alexander Vogel, TU Braunschweig