Wear generated by sliding impacts

Abstract : Vibrations of the steam generator tubes in nuclear power plants induce stochastic impacts between the tubes and their supports. As a consequence, wear is generated. A test rig is designed and used to perform impacts between two metal crossed cylinders with various incident angles and impact velocities. The normal and tangential components of the contact load are measured during the tests. Rate and duration of impacts, instantaneous ratio between normal and tangential loads for each impact are deduced. Influence of incidence angle and impact velocity on impact duration, ratio between tangential and normal loads during impact and wear volume is highlighted.