An Experimental Approach to Measure Slips at Frictional Contact Interfaces Using a Self-Powered Sensor

When fastening components connected through friction contacts are subjected to tangential cyclic loads, slips may occur at the contact interfaces. Under multiple cyclic tangential load excitations, slips may be cumulative or shakedown. However, few reports have conducted experimental work on slip behaviors because local micro slips are difficult to measure. In this paper, an experimental approach to measure slips at frictional contact interfaces under cyclic loads was presented, which could directly capture slip behaviors. In this approach, local micro slips at the contact interfaces were measured by a self-powered sensor based on the principles of a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG), and a conventional digital source meter was used to collect the voltage signals from the sensor. This approach is completely different from existing contact displacement measurement methods. The slip behaviors in a flat-on-flat contact using an established test bench were observed experimentally. The finite element model of this contact configuration was built to simulate the dynamic slips and the results were in good agreement with the experimental results.