The Effect of Microstructure on the Wear Phenomena

Abstract

When investigating the wear phenomena often there is a need for studying the wear process on the basis of variable parameters (microstructure, surface roughness, and load). A new experimental method was developed thorough several set of tests, by which the effects of the mentioned parameters in the wear process can be examined. The method is based on the ball/plane contact which is suitable for examination of the local wear phenomena. There is a point like contact at the beginning of the experiments. The equipment gives the opportunity to analyse the “behaviour” of the specimens depending on the given load (normal load), on the rotations per minute, and on the surface roughness (Ra). The roughness of the counter ball does not change during the tests because of the random walk motion of the ball. A good understanding of the microstructure and its influence on wear resistance is of great importance to designers and engineers in selecting wear-resistant materials [1]. Under conditions of severe wear, the original structure with higher hardness does not exhibit a better wear resistance [2]. The experimental results demonstrate the influence of the local microstructure on the mechanism of the wear process and the dependancy of wear resistance as a function of the microstructure.