Ruqiang Feng

Associate Professor

W314 Nebraska Hall
Department of Engineering Mechanics
University of Nebraska
Lincoln, NE 68588-0526

Phone: (402) 472-2384
Fax: (402) 472-8292
E-mail: rfeng1@unl.edu

This laboratory is mainly for statistical studies of the topographical features of material surfaces and the influences of surface topography on the micromechanical mechanisms governing the tribological response of these surfaces. The laboratory is equipped with a Proscan 1000 measuring system, which is an optical profilometer capable of non-contact three-dimensional surface profiling over large areas and at a 2-mm depth of field and a submicron resolution. The use of a chromatic sensor allows examinations of dark and rough surfaces such as those of fractured silicon carbide. The scanning process is fully computerized and the computer software enables two- and three-dimensional surface visualizations as well as complete statistical analysis of surface topography. An ongoing research project in the laboratory is to study the friction and wear mechanisms of as-fractured rough surfaces by comparing the surface features of such a tribo-pair before and after tribometric experiment and by correlating the evolution of frictional response with that of surface topography.

Topography of a 7075-T6 Aluminum Alloy Surface As Fractured

Topography of the Surface After a Tribometric Experiment