Research on Fractal Feature of Wear Surface Topography Based on Gray Images of Rubber Surfaces

Abrasion performance is an important index for evaluating the performance of rubber products. The surface morphologies of rubber composites under different temperatures and loads were characterized based on fractal theory. The abrasion performance and characteristics of the surface morphology of rubber were investigated. Images of surface morphology of rubber samples were collected by a 3D measuring laser microscope and converted to black-and-white binary images. Based on the multifractal model, the relationship between the experimental conditions and the characteristic parameters of the abrasion surfaces, such as the width of multifractal spectrum Δα, the change in the multifractal spectrum Δf(α), wave length, wave height and the root mean square deviation of the outline were quantitatively analyzed. The results show that abrasion volume increased as the temperature increased. Similarly, abrasion volume increased as load increased. As the temperature or the load increases, the abrasion of the rubber surface increases in intensity and volume, the abrasion surface becomes more uneven, and the abrasive grain becomes more complex. The characteristic parameters, such as the wave length and wave height of the abrasive grain, the arithmetic mean deviation of the outline, the root mean square deviation of the outline and the 3D arithmetic mean deviation, increase in certain regularity.