Rolling contact is commonly used in mechanical components, such as rolling bearings and ball screws, to reduce friction. To study its properties, we performed six experiments with a pin-on-block friction and wear tester. We inserted aluminum, copper, and glass spheres between the sliding surfaces and systematically varied the load conditions. We combined in situ observation with acoustic emission (AE) sensing to analyze the frictional behavior. The results suggest that AE signals can diagnose the rolling state and distinguish differences in load conditions, demonstrating the potential of AE sensing for tribological evaluation.
Hirai et al. (Wed,) studied this question.