Effect of Ultrasonic Surface Rolling on the Fretting Wear Property of 7075 Aluminum Alloy

Abstract

This paper investigates the effect of ultrasonic surface rolling (USR) on the fretting wear properties of the 7075 aluminum alloy. A white light interferometer, Vickers hardness tester, and X-ray diffractometer were employed to comparatively analyze the variations in surface roughness, hardness. and grain size before and after the USR treatment. The fretting tests were carried out under oil lubricated and dry fretting conditions, using a ball-on-flat contact tangential fretting tester. The worn surface morphology, wear debris, and chemical composition were analyzed using an optical microscope (OM), a scanning electron microscope (SEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), etc. The results revealed that after USR treatment, the surface roughness was reduced by 90%, the hardness was increased by 13HV, and the grains were refined. Moreover, the wear was reduced under oil lubrication conditions but increased under dry fretting conditions. It can be concluded that the microstructure and mechanical properties of the 7075 aluminum alloy surface can be enhanced by the USR treatment. The improved fretting performance in oil should be attributed to the increased surface hardness, which helps reduce abrasive wear and plastic deformation. However, under dry fretting conditions, the wear was increased due to the presence of hard debris particles that peel off from the USR-treated surface, leading to aggravated abrasion.