Carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) offer great potential for lightweight construction due to their high specific stiffness and strength, especially in electric drive systems with rotating components. However, the substitution of steel by CFRP in highly stressed, tribologically relevant interfaces, such as hollow shank taper interfaces (HSK), is hindered by numerous influencing factors. To systematically investigate these factors, particularly the winding angle and lubrication, the tribological properties of CFRP are analyzed on an application-oriented test rig. For this purpose, pin-on-tube tests are conducted using CFRP tube samples with three winding angles (±10°, ±45°, ±89°), as well as hardened steel references tested against steel counterfaces are conducted. The samples undergo linear reciprocating motion under a normal force of 450 N over 20,000 cycles. The friction coefficients are determined under dry conditions as well as under flood lubrication with a water-miscible coolant lubricant. The results show that lubrication with coolant lubricant significantly reduces the dynamic coefficient of friction. The lowest friction coefficients, 0.17, are achieved at a winding angle of ±10°. In lubricated tests, the specific wear was below the measurement resolution. Microscopic images show typical fiber-matrix damage in unlubricated samples, which is significantly less pronounced under lubricated conditions. A comparison with literature values for steel HSK interfaces demonstrates the influence of the pin-on-tube arrangement for reference samples. The investigations show the suitability of CFRP for tribologically stressed interfaces. However, further studies are necessary for transfer to real applications such as HSK.
Bischop et al. (2025) studied this question.