Tribological Prototype for Wear Tests on Pavement Surfaces

In this work the design and manufacturing of a new test machine to simulate the Rolling Contact Fatigue (RCF) wear on pavement surfaces is carried out. The method of Quality Function Deployment (QFD) was used to determine the conceptual design of the machine; from this a detailed design of the machine was developed, through additional computer aided design software. The machine basically consists of a frame and two mechanisms; one is for transmitting the force and the other one the motion. The static conditions were calculated and a finite element analysis was performed by computer aided engineer software to determine the failure due to mechanical stresses. Finally it is showed the machine assembly and some preliminary tests in order to verify the performance of the tribological prototype.