TRIBOLOGY 17ME742

Module 2
What is friction?

• Friction: Friction is the resistance to motion of one object moving relative to another.

• Friction is the force resisting the relative motion of solid surfaces, fluid layers and material elements
sliding against each other

• Friction is what happens when any two things rub against each other

• Friction occurs when two surfaces come in contact of each other. Friction can also occur when a liquid
or a gas is pushed out of the way of a moving object.

• Friction occurs because the hills and valleys of a surface are in contact with the hills and valleys of
other surfaces. This produces friction.

• Friction depends on the roughness of surfaces and force with which objects are being pressed one
against the other, or their weights.

Five laws of friction

1. When an object is moving, the friction is proportional and perpendicular to the normal force (N).

2. Friction is independent of the area of contact as long as there is an area of contact.

3. The coefficient of static friction is slightly greater than the coefficient of kinetic friction.

4. Within range large limits, kinetic friction is independent of velocity.

5. Friction depends upon the nature of the surfaces in contact

Different types of Friction

1. Static friction: When a force is applied to an object but it does not cause it to move. Ex. Pushing on a
wall
2. Dynamic friction:
a. Sliding friction: Occurs when solid surfaces lied over each other. Ex. Falling on the pavement
b. Rolling friction: Occurs when solid surface slide over each other. Ex. falling on the pavement.
3. Fluid friction: Occurs when a object moves through a fluid, meaning either a liquid or gas. Ex.
Skydiving, swimming.

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Static friction:

1. Static friction is a force that resists the movement of two objects against one another when the objects
are initially at rest.
2. Static friction comes into play when a body is forced to move along a surface but movement does not
start.
3. The magnitude of static friction remains equal to the applied external forced and the direction is
always opposite to the direction of motion. The magnitude of static depends upon µ s (coefficient of
static friction) and N (net normal reaction of the body)
4. An example of static friction is pushing a wall

Dynamic friction:

1. Kinetic (or dynamic) friction occurs when tow objects are moving relative to each other and rub
together (like a sled on the ground). The coefficient of kinetic friction is typically denoted as µ k, and is
usually less than the coefficient of static friction for the same materials.
2. New models are beginning to show how kinetic friction can be greater than static friction.
3. Kinetic friction is now understood, in many cases, to be primarily caused by chemical bonding
between the surfaces, rather than interlocking asperities, however, in many other cases roughness
effects are dominant, for example in rubber to road friction.
4. Surface roughness and contact area, however, do affect kinetic friction for micro-and nano-scale
objects where surface area forces dominate inertial forces.
5. An example for kinetic friction is slipping on a wet floow.

Rolling friction:

1. Rolling frictional force is a force that slows down the motion of a rolling object.
2. Basically it is a combination of various types of frictional forces at point of contact of wheel and
ground or surface.

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3. When a hard object moves along a hard surface then static and molecular friction force retards its
motion.
4. When soft object moves over a hard surface then its distortion makes it slow down.
5. A car will eventually come to a stop if just allowed to roll as the friction between the road surface and
the wheels causes friction that causes the vehicle to stop.

Fluid friction:

1. When a body moves in a fluid or in air then there exists a resistive force which slows down the motion
of the body, known as fluid frictional force.
2. A freely falling skydiver feels a drag force due to air which acts in the upward direction or in a
direction opposite to skydiver’s motion.
3. The magnitude of this drag force increases with increment in the downward velocity of skydiver. At a
particular point of time the value of this drag force become equal to the driving force and skydiver
falls with a constant velocity.

Examples of Fluid friction:

1. Suppose there is a wet surface between two thin glass plates, you may find the plates get stuck and the
bottom plate does not fall when you hold only the top plate.
2. This is due to fluid friction that over comes the tensile stress (the weight) acting on the bottom plate.
3. The quantum of fluid friction or the viscosity of blood is related to the biomedical condition of a
person.
4. When an object is dropped into a fluid, the extent of splash due to the buoyant force of the fluid
depends on the fluid friction of that particular fluid.
5. You find lighter dust articles move fast on the surface of a flowing river. This is due to the high
velocity gradient at the top layer of water due to lower dynamic fluid friction at that layer.
6. A dynamic fluid friction is much lower in magnitude compared to the sliding friction of solids. For
this reason some fluids are used as lubricants in between surfaces of sliding or rotating objects. The
contact surfaces then become two sets of surfaces. Solid to fluid contact and fluid to solid contact.
Because the fluid friction is less in each set, the overall sliding friction gets reduced.

Advantages of friction:

1. Friction is a necessary evil. It enables us to walk without slipping. To enhance friction, it is advisable
to use shoes with rough sole while walking on slippery floors. For a similar reason, crutches are
provided with rubber tips at their bottom to provide sufficient friction.
2. The breakers and tiers of our cars and bicycles depend on friction to function properly

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3. The ridges in the skin of our fingers and palms enable us to grasp and hold objects due to friction.
4. To prevent patients being uncomfortable in bed rubber sheets with spongy under surfaces are placed
over mattresses. The friction between the spongy under surfaces and the mattress prevents the rubber
sheet from slipping and wrinkling.
5. Nails and screws are held in wood by friction.

Disadvantages of Friction
Despite the fact that the friction is very important in our daily life, it also has some disadvantages like:
1. The main disadvantage of friction is that it produces heat in various parts of machines. In this way some
useful energy is wasted as heat energy.
2. Due to friction we have to exert more power in machines.
3. It opposes the motion.
4. Due to friction, noise is also produced in machines.
5. Due to friction, engines of automobiles consume more fuel which is a money loss.

Methods of Reducing Friction

there are a number of methods to reduce friction in which some are discussed here.
1. Use of Lubricants:
The parts of machines which are moving over one another must be properly lubricated by using oils and
lubricants of suitable viscosity.
2. Use of Grease:
Proper greasing between the sliding parts of machine reduces the friction.
3. Use of Ball Bearing:
In machines where possible, sliding friction can be replaced by rolling friction by using ball bearings.
4. Design Modification:
Friction can be reduced by changing the design of fast moving objects. The front of vehicles and airplanes
made oblong to minimize friction.

1. Polishing: Polishing the surface, reduce the irregularities and hence friction will reduce.
2. Streamlining: Fast cars, boats, planes etc., have a streamlined body. This is to allow air (water in case
of boats) to easily flow by, without offering much resistance.

Use of correct combination of surface in contact: Use of alloys on moving and sliding parts reduces friction
because alloys have a low coefficient of friction.

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Methods of increasing friction:

1. Friction is simply the resistant force between two objects moving while in contact with one
another. But many people do not understand friction completely and are unaware that there are
ways to increase the frictional force between two objects
2. Some ways to increase the friction
3. Make the surfaces rough.
4. Increase the contact area.
5. Adding weight to one object can significantly increase the frictional force between tow moving
objects.
6. Remove lubricant between sliding parts.

Theories of friction
The generation and causes of friction have been explained by many theories, some of which are as follows:

1. Adhesion theory :
Adhesion is a surface interaction phenomenon and it is the ability of contacting bodies to withstand
tensile forces after being pressed together. When the two very clean surfaces are pressed together,
strong adhesive junctions are formed. No inter-diffusion or recrystallization of metal atoms takes place
at the junctions is more like “cold welding” situation. The fig shows one typical adhesive
joint/junction.

Fig. A typical adhesion junction joint Fig. A 2-adhesive junction joint

In actual practice, one surface rests over another surface on a number of small adhesive junctions of the type
shown in fig which are formed by compression of asperities until the cross section of all such junctions
becomes enough to support the load under static condition. For simplicity fig shows that surface (1) is
resting over surface (2) on two such adhesive bonds/junctions having area A 1 and A2 respectively. The real
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contact area Ar would be (A1 +A2). If surface (1) is attempted to move, it would move only with the force
“P” which would be equal to real area multiplied by shear strength of the junction (Ss). Considering W as
load which again would be the product of real contact area and average pressure of contact (which is actually
determined by the hardness “p” of the material Ss)

COF =

When one set of junction breaks, another set of junctions are formed which again breaks when the surface is
in motion.

2. Asperity interlocking theory

Mr. Coulomb (1736-1803) was probably the first to tell that friction was due to interlocking of
asperities. As it is almost impossible to get a perfectly smooth surface, all surfaces are made of
asperities (mountains and valleys) and mountains of one surface may go and interact with the valleys
of another surface. In course of sliding, the plastic deformation of softer asperities has to occur by the
applied force. This causes friction resistance.
However, this theory is not accepted very well as it is observed that μ increases when the surfaces
becomes very smooth whereas, vide asperity interlocking theory, μ should decreases as the mountains
and valleys would be very small and should need very small force for their plastic deformation. This
theory is again contrary to the assumptions that, for very smooth surface, real contact area becomes
more and friction increases.

Fig. Asperity interlocking

3. Molecular attraction theory
Mr. W B Hardy (around 1928) was, probably the first to tell that friction is due to the molecular
attraction operating across an interface. The basis of this theory is the partial irreversibility of the
bonding force between atoms. Such molecular attraction operates over short distances and, therefore,
differentiates between real area of contact and apparent area of contact.

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However, this theory may be considered, to some extent, the “adhesion theory”.

4. Stick – slip theory

This may also be considered as another version of the adhesion theory. This again assumes that one
surface is resting over another on a junction. When one surface starts sliding over another, a rise in
temperature occurs at these junctions and causes local welding at the points of contact (junctions). This
causes resistance to motion i.e., friction. Sliding occurs on account of applied force, by tearing apart theses
welds (often plucking some metal). Immediately, after this sliding, local welding takes place on another
set of junctions which are again torn to enable sliding and such sticking and slipping (sliding) continues.

Measurement methods
There are different methods of measuring frictional force

 Wight ratio
 Spring balance
 Tilted plane
 Clamping
 Pendulum
 Motorized tribometer

Weight ratio: The sketch shown originates from Leonardo da Vinci (ca 15..). He studied friction by
measuring the load handing on a cord, at which the block begins to slide. The coefficient of friction is found
by the quotient of the dead weight of the mass handing on the cord and the mass of the block i.e.

µ=F / w = m dead weight / m block

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Spring Balance: Pull a spring balance connected to the block and slowly increase the force until the block
begins to slide. Make sure the spring balance is parallel to the surface. The reading on the spring balance scale
when the load begins to slide is a measure for the static friction, while the reading when the block continues to
slide is a measure of dynamic friction. The coefficient of friction is simply

µ=Fspring / Fnormal =Fspring / (mblock *g) g = 9.81 m/s2

Tilted Plane: Place a block on a tilted plane and increase the angle of tilt until the block begins to slide. The
tangent of the tilting angle just found is the so called ‘friction angle’. This angle is related to the coefficient of
friction

µ = BC/AB = mgSinθ/mgCosθ = Tanθ

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Clamping: To measure the static coefficient of friction under conditions of high contact pressure the object
may be clamped between two surfaces. The force necessary to put the object in motion must be halved to
obtain the friction force because of the two contacting surfaces.

Pendulum: The pendulum is suitable to analyze the static and dynamic friction under reciprocal motion by
monitoring the bearing torque. This however requires a torque sensor.

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The energy loss of combined static and dynamic friction can be analyzed by considering the reduction of the
amplitude of motion in time. This only requires a simple rotary potentiometer or pulse rotation sensors to
visualize the amplitude reduction in time.

Motorized Tribometer: in the measuring methods discussed, coefficient is measured in fresh contacts; not
after running in. the coefficient of friction may change significantly during first half hour of sliding.

The time necessary to obtain a stable value of the coeffricient of friction can be observed in a motorized
tribometer by monitoring the friction over time.

This method is common for measuring the specific wear rate and the contact temperature during operation.

A simple tribometer is described by a hanging mass and a mass resting on a horizontal surface, connected to
each other via a string and pulley. The coefficient of friction, µ, when the system is stationary, is determined

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by increasing the hanging mass until the moment that the resting mass begins to slide. Then using the general
equation for friction force:

{\displaystyle F=\mu \mathbb {N} }

Where N, the normal force, is equal to the weight (mass x gravity) of the sitting mass (mT) and F, the
loading force, is equal to the weight (mass x gravity) of the hanging mass (mH).

To determine the kinetic coefficient of friction the hanging mass is increased or decreased until the mass
system moves at a constant speed.

In both cases, the coefficient of friction is simplified to the ratio of the two masses:

{\displaystyle \mu \ =m_{H}/m_{T}}In most test applications using tribometer, wear is measured by
comparing the mass or surfaces of test specimens before and after testing. Equipment and methods used to
examine the worn surfaces include optical microscopes, scanning electron microscopes, optical
interferometer and mechanical roughness testers.

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Friction of Metals and Non-Metals

Friction of Metals
The coefficient of friction of particular materials depends on 3 factors:
1. Mating materials 2. Surface roughness and 3. Operating conditions

When the metal surfaces are cleaned in high vacuum and placed in contact, strong adhesion is observed and
consequently high friction is observed

In vacuum typically 2 to 10 or even more

With no interfacial contamination, the extent of junction growth is limited by ductility of material

Gold is ductile but it does not forms oxide layers in the air, thus considerable amount of junction growth in
gold contact leads to high friction
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Most metals forms oxide layer in air and the layer will be in the range of 1 to 10nm These films play
important role in frictional characteristics

Variation of coefficient of friction with normal load for copper sliding on copper In air

At low normal loads, the oxide films separate the two metals

Coefficient of friction is low because the oxide has low shear strength

At higher loads the surface films deforms and metallic contact occurs leading to high frictions
Note: for chromium very thin but strong oxide layer is formed and no metallic contact occurs for a wide range
of normal loads leading to a low constant friction

Friction of metals is affected by number of parameters like,

1. Sliding velocity

2. Contact Pressure

3. Temperature

4. Relative Humidity

5. Environmental conditions

Variation of coefficient of friction as a function of temperature for cobalt sliding on stainless steel

Cobalt exhibits phase transformation from Hexagonal close packed structure to Cubic Packed structure at
4170c

This is fully ductile

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This phase transformation leads to peak friction atm5000c

The decrease in friction after 5500c is because of oxide film thickness and changes in oxides species from
CoO to Co3O4

Friction of Non-Metallic Materials

Ceramics combine low density with excellent mechanical properties (high strength, stiffness, hardness etc..)
up to high temperatures. These are called engineering materials

These engineering materials include silicon nitride (SiN4), silicon carbide (SiC), Alumina (Al2O3), Zirconia
(ZrO2) Ceramics are used in extreme conditions like high loads, high speeds, high temperatures and corrosive
environments

Because of different nature of bonds in ceramics compared with metals they show limited plastic flow at room
temperatures

Correspondingly much less ductility than metals

Although adhesive forces are present the very low real area of contact makes them to have relatively low
coefficient of friction

In clean environment friction coefficient does not reach high values as in the case of metals show high friction
in vacuum

The reason for this less friction is the coefficient of friction decreases with an increase in fracture toughness

Friction as function of Fracture Toughness

This is for sharp diamond tip on (SiN4), (SiC), (Al2O3), (ZrO2) disks produced under various hot pressing
conditions
Fracture is readily produced in concentrated contacts

At low loads, friction is low and no fracture occurs with plastic grooving

Variation of coefficient of friction with normal load for 600 diamond cone sliding over the face of a silicon
carbide

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With increase in load the friction increases and fracture occurs

The role of normal load, sliding speed, temperature and test duration of friction of ceramics may be
interpreted based on the tribo-chemical changes in the surface film and also extent of fracture in the contact
zone

Load and speed affects the temperature at the interface

Variation of coefficient of friction with sliding speed for

reaction bonded silicon carbide and hot pressed silicon nitride samples

This is for self mated silicon carbide and silicon nitride

This similar phenomenon is observed in alumina and zerconia

With sliding speed interface temperature increases and this enhances the film formation in the sliding surface
which decreases the friction

Variation of coefficient of friction as a function of temperature for alumina and zerconia

This is sliding of self mated pair in air

The removal of adsorbed water results in initial rise of friction

Friction of Polymers

Polymer includes elastomer and plastics. The coefficient of friction for polymers ranges from 0.15-0.6 in
general

With the exception of PTFE (Polytetrafluoroethylene) which have very low coefficient of friction 0.05

Thus in general polymers exhibit low coefficient of friction comparative to metals and ceramics

Mostly used in the applications are self lubricating solids # PTFE, HDFE (High density polyethylene),
polyphenylene sulphide (PPS), pluamide (Nylon), polyimide, acetal etc. are commonly used plastics #
commonly used elastomers are natural and synthetic rubber, styrene butadiene rubber (SBR), silicon rubber
etc.

These self lubricated solids readily flow at moderate temperatures and pressures
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Since polymers lack in rigidity and strength, polymer composites are used to provide combination of
mechanical strength with low friction and wear. Carbon, graphite and glass are commonly used filler materials
to make polymer composites

When plastic slide against hard metal surfaces, transfer film of plastic is formed on the mating surface and this
governs the friction and wear

Sliding tend to occur at the interface of bulk polymer and transfer film leading to low wear rates

The coefficient of friction for initial hard materials is 0.2-0.3

As the sliding continues the coefficient of friction drops to much lower values

WEAR

Many mechanical types of equipment are subjected to sliding contact in real time applications. Pumps, belt
drives, bearings, machinery guide ways, piston-cylinder arrangements etc, are the few important sliding
components which are continuously subjected to sliding wear. Most of mechanical equipments failure
occurred due to wear related problems. Therefore, understanding of different wear mechanism is important to
design the mechanical components.

When two solid surfaces are in contact, which are in relative motion, there is damage to the surface and/ or
subsurface.

Wear is the removal of solid metal from the one or both surface of which are in solid state contact.

Wear may be defined as progressive loss of substance from surface of a body due to relative motion with
respect to another body.

Wear is quantified by the term ‘wear rate’ which is defined as “the mass or volume or height loss of material
removed per unit time or sliding distance”. The wear is characterized by mild and severe wear.

The outcome of mild wear, the worn surfaces is smooth and smaller in wear debris.

In contrast, the severe wear results in larger wear debris size which can be seen in naked eye and roughened
worn surface.

Classification of Wear
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Wear classification schemes suggested by Siebel and Burwell are

Wear can be classified as

I) In relation to the type of relative motion and the nature of interacting surface
II) In relation to the type of wear mechanism
I) In relation to the type of relative motion and the nature of interacting surface
1. Wear during sliding friction of dry surfaces.
2. Wear during sliding friction of lubricated surfaces.
3. Wear during rolling friction of dry surfaces.
4. Wear during rolling friction of lubricated surfaces.
5. Wear during oscillating contact
6. Wear by moving solid particles (erosion)
7. Wear by moving fluids (cavitation)

II) In relation to the type of wear mechanism

1) Adhesive wear
2) Abrasive wear
3) Corrosive wear
4) Erosive wear
5) Fretting wear
6) Surface fatigue
7) Gouging wear
8) Laminative & delamiantive wear

Adhesive wear

Adhesive wear generally describes wear due to the sliding action between two metallic components, where no
abrasives are intended to be present. When the applied load is sufficiently low, an oxide film is usually
generated as a result of frictional heating accompanied by sliding. The oxide film prevents the formation of
metallic bond between the sliding surfaces, resulting in low wear rates. This form of wear is called the
oxidative or mild wear. If the applied load is high, formation of metallic bond occurs between the surfaces of
mating materials. The resulting wear rates are extremely high. This form of wear is called severe or metallic
wear. Galling is a special form of severe adhesive wear. It occurs if the wear debris is larger than the
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clearance and if seizure of the moving components occurs. Generally, lubrication is used to prevent the
adhesive wear.

Fig. Schematic diagram of adhesive wear

Laws of Adhesive wear

Volume loss is directly proportional to the sliding distance (S)
Volume loss is directly proportional to the normal load (W)
Volume loss is inversely proportional to the hardness of the wear surface (H)

K is the wear coefficient. This equation is called as Archard’s equation.

Adhesive wear prevention:

i. Mechanical:
1. Reduce load, speed and temperature.
2. Improve oil cooling
3. Use compatible metals
4. Apply surface coatings such as phosphating
ii. Lubricant:
1. Use more viscous oil to separate surfaces.
2. Use ‘extreme pressure’ (anti scuff) additives such as a sulfur phosphorous or
borate compounds.

Abrasive wear
Abrasion wear is the displacement of materials caused by the presence of hard particles, between or embedded
in one or both the two surfaces in relative motion, or by the presence of hard protuberances on one or both of
the relatively moving surfaces. The nature of abrasive wear is determined by the way which particles traverse

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the worn surfaces i.e. the particles may roll and/or slide over the surface. Therefore, two basic modes have
been identified namely; two-body and three-body abrasion wear.

Fig. Schematic diagram of i) Low stress abrasive ii) High stress abrasive

Two-body and three-body abrasion

Wear Abrasion wear can be classified as two-body or three body abrasion and are shown in Figure . The two-
body abrasive wear involves the removal of material by abrasive particles which are held fixed (as in abrasive
paper) while being moved across a surface. This form of abrasive wear results in grooving form of wear .

In three-body abrasion wear phenomenon the abrasive particles are trapped between two surfaces which may
rotate as well as slide as they contact the wearing surface. This type of wear is much more common but more
complicated than two-body abrasion. Furthermore, in three-body abrasion, the movement patterns of abrasives
are more complicated than in two-body abrasion, since the abrasives not only slide, but also roll. Thus, a
relatively wide range of wear rates have been previously reported for three body abrasion conditions, which
depend not only on the material being tested, but also on the testing apparatus. In three-body abrasion of
metals, cutting wear and plastic deformation wear coexist. It has been very well established that the two-body
systems experiences 10 to 1000 times as much loss as three-body systems for a given load and path length of
wear. This is because in three-body abrasion a small proportion of the abrasives cause wear, due to variations
in the angles of attack and movement patterns of abrasives.

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Figure: Abrasion wear modes: (a) two-body abrasion; (b) three-body abrasion

Abrasive wear prevention:

Mechanical:
3. Remove abrasive by improved air and oil filtering, clean oil handling practices,
improved seals, flushing and frequent oil changes.
4. Minimize shot peening, beading, or sand blasting of surfaces because abrasives
cannot be completely removed.
5. Increase hardness of metal surface.
Lubricant:
6. Use oil free of abrasive particles.
7. Use more viscous oil.

Corrosive wear

In this case material damage will takes place by the action of enveloped medium is called corrosion.
Corrosive wear starts at the surface of material and slowly penetrates into the substrate.

Corrosive wear is defined as the degradation of material in which both corrosion and wear mechanism are
involved. Corrosive wear occurs when the environment surrounding a sliding surface is corrosive and
interacts chemically with the sliding surface. Therefore this wear is also known as chemical wear.

When the component operates in a corrosive media, liquid or gas, the tribochemical reaction between
corrosive agent and the bulk material generates a reaction (protective) layer on the surface.

During the sliding friction, this layer is removed and the tribochemical reaction is started again. If the growth
of the layer is faster then its removal, then only this layer is worn and not the bulk material directly. If the
growth and removal of the layer is too fast, than there is an execesive wear of a bulk through the reaction film.
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Fig. Corrosive Wear

Corrosive wear prevention
Mechanical:
1. Use more corrosion resistant metal (not stainless steel)
2. Reduce operating temperature
3. Eliminate corrosive material.
Lubricant:
1. Remove corrosive material such as too chemically active additive and
contaminates
2. Use improved corrosion inhibitor
3. Use fresh oil

Surface fatigue

In this form of fatigue wear the removal of debris takes place by cyclic processes. This type of wear is
predominates in most of the machine component. On repeated loading and unloading, a micro crack originates
under the subsurface and propagates. Once this crack reaches a particular size, it moves towards the surface
and a flat sheet like debris detached during sliding. The number of impacts required to cause such failure
reduces as the specific magnitude of stress raises.

Fig. Schematic diagram of fatigue wear

Contact fatigue wear prevention

iii. Mechanic:
1. Reduce contact pressures and frequency of cyclic stress.
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2. Use high quality vacuum melted steels.

3. Use less abusive surface finish.
iv. Lubricant:
1. Use clean, dry oil.
2. Use more viscous oil.
3. Use oil with higher pressure viscosity coefficient

Fretting wear
This type of wear takes place when an oscillatory tangential displacements on the wearing surface with small
amplitudes. In these types of wear a thin film of flake separates from the parent material. As per Waterhouse
Laminative and delamiantive wear is accountable for the final generation of fretting particles.

Fig.1.6 Schematic diagram of fretting wear

Fretting wear prevention:

v. Mechanical:
1. Reduce or stop I ration by tighter fit or higher load
2. Improve lubrication between surfaces by rougher (then honed) surface finish
vi. Lubricant:
1. Use oil of lower viscosity
2. Re-lubricate frequently
3. Use oxidation inhibitors in oil

Gouging wear
Usually it is the action of ploughing of separate wear debris on the wearing surface in the sliding direction.
This small damage is called ‘scratching’. The scouring, gouging and scratching are also called as abrasive
wear

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Fig. Schematic diagram of gouging wear

Laminative and delaminative wear
Laminative wear is that a edges of the abrasive wear are lapped smeared on the wearing surface later this
smeared surface separates from the wearing surface is called laminative wear. Delaminative wear is a part of a
parent metal separates due to the under surface micro cracks is called delamiantive wear. Laminative and
delaminative wear is the word initial used by Suh and his co-workers.

A wear process where a material loss from the surface by forces of another surface acting on it in a sliding
motion in the form of thin sheets

Erosive wear

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The damage produced by sharp particles impinging on an object is called erosive wear. Particles in water
eroding the rocks over which a river flows or the erosion of both rope and stone pulley, when the rope
continuously slides over the pulley are some of the common examples of erosive wear

Erosive wear is caused by the impact of particles of solid or liquid against the surface of an object.

Erosive wear prevention:

Mechanical:
1. Remove abrasive by improved air and oil filtering, clean oil handling practices,
improved seals, flushing and frequent oil changes.
2. Reduce impact angel to less than degrees.
3. Increase hardness of metal surface

Lubricant:
1. Use oil free of abrasive particles.
2. Use more viscous oil

Delamination theory of wear

The Delamination theory of wear was first put forward by Suh (1973) and has been elaborated by others. The
theory involves a detailed consideration of sub-surface dislocation interactions. The physical basis of the
theory may be summarized as follows:

1. When two sliding surface interact, the asperities on the softer surface get flattened and fractured by
repeated loading, forming small wear particles. Hard particles are also removed but at slower rates. A

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relatively smooth surface is generated initially either when these asperities are deformed or when they
removed.
2. The surface traction exerted by the harder asperities at the contact points induces incremental plastic
deformation on each cycle of loading, which accumulates with repeated loading.
3. As the sub-surface deformation continues, nucleation of cracks takes place under the surface. Crack
nucleation cannot occur very near the surface due to the triaxial state of compressive loading which
exists just below the contact region.
4. Once cracks are present, further loading and deformation causes the cracks to extend and propagate,
eventually joining the neighboring cracks. The cracks tend to propagate parallel to the surface at a
depth governed by the material properties and the state of loading.
5. When the cracks finally shear to the surface, long and thin wear sheets delaminate. The thickness of
the wear sheet is determined by the location of sub-surface crack growth, which is governed by the
normal and tangential loads at the surface. The wear rate is controlled by the crack nucleation rate or
the crack propagation rate, whichever is slower.

Wear debris analysis

The material that is detached from the worn surface has a form and a shape, which is characteristics of the
process that lead to its formation. The debris produced during the early part of running in tends to have the
form of finely machined chips, typical of abrasive micro-cutting, Mild- lubricated wear tends to produce thin
flake – like debris and fatigue wear more equi-axed particles. Fatigue crack propagation in rolling contacts is
characterized by near-spherical particles, the concentration of particles indicating the extent of crack
propagation. Thus, it is possible to infer something about the state of a pair of worn surfaces by monitoring
the form and amount of the debris produced during their service period, provided the debris particles are
collected before they have undergone further chemical or mechanical changes. The size, shape and structural
and chemical details of particles are analyzed using various techniques, including optical microscopy,
scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission and scanning transmission electron microscopy
(TEM/STEM), energy dispersive and wavelength dispersive spectroscopy (EDS/WDS), Auger electron
spectroscopy (AES), S-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (SPS), X-ray and electron diffraction, etc.

Wear testing methods

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Many different experimental arrangements are used to study sliding wear. These are usually carried out either
to examine the process by which wear takes place or to simulate practical situations to generate design data on
wear rates and coefficients of friction. Close control and monitoring of all the variables which may influence
wear are essential if the results of a test are to be useful for wider scientific purposes. Fig. shows the
geometrical arrangements in several common types of wear testing apparatus.

Fig. Sliding wear tests arrangements

For adhesive wear between identical materials, the two surfaces are made of the same material.
For abrasive wear testing, one of the surfaces is made of abrasive material; generally the larger one is made of
abrasive material,
Changes in geometries and arrangements are done for testing of different mechanism of wear.
For two-body abrasive wear, commercial-bonded abrasive paper or cloth is usually used for the coutner-face,
carrying evenly distributed grit particles of narrow size distribution, bonded to the substrate by a strong resin.
In simulating three-body abrasion, silica (quartz) particles of a narrow size distribution and, from a specified
source are fed at a constant rate into the contact region.
Fig. shows schematic diagrams of four types of testing methods for erosive wear.
In jet impingement method: (a) particles are accelerating in a fluid stream along a nozzle to strike the target
material, which is held some way from the end of the nozzle at a fixed angle.
In re-circulating loop test, (b) a two phase flow of particles and fluid are driven around a loop of pipe-work
where the specimen is kept completely immersed in the flow.

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In centrifugal accelerator, (c) a continuous stream of particles, generated by circular motion of a rotor,
strikes the stationary specimens arranged around the rim after rotor.
In whirling arm rig, (d) two specimens at the ends of a balanced rotor move at high speed through a slowly
falling stream of particles, striking them at the peripheral speed of the rotor.

Fig. Schematic representation of erosive wear test arrangements: (a) jet impingement method (b) re-
circulating loop (c) centrifugal accelerator (d) whirling arm rig

An abrasive wear tester

An apparatus for wear testing is termed as wear tester, tribotester or tribometer. The prefix of "tribo-" refers to
wear, friction and lubrication. Many, probably more than several hundred, different wear testing arrangements
and procedures are used in laboratories around the world and described in technical literature. However big
difference of one arrangement as compared with another, a wear tester will always involve two components
loaded against and relatively moving each other. The movement can be driven by a motor or by an electro-
magnetic device. For convenient purpose, the material or component being investigated is normally referred
to as specimen, the other termed as counterface. As examples, the working principle of three most widely
used laboratory wear testers are given below.

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Fig. Abrasive wear tester

Fig. is a schematic of an abrasive wear tester, in which a wheel or a ball is driven by a motor, rotating and
sliding against a fixed sample in the presence of abrasive particles. The specimen is in the form of a plate or a
block. Contact pressure is controlled by dead weight through a loading lever. The abrasive particles, such as
silica, are added through a nozzle connecting to a hopper above, giving a three-body wear situation. After a
set time of running, the sample is removed, and wear loss is measured. The parameters to be controlled
include contact load, sliding speed, type of abrasive particles and its flow rate.

A rolling sliding wear tester

a) Wheel –on-wheel b) Block-on-wheel

Fig 2. Sample arrangement in a rolling sliding wear test
Rolling-sliding wear tester is the most popular tribometer for investigating wear as well as frictional behavior
of materials under conditions of rolling, sliding, or a combination of both. Two discs (wheels), as show in Fig.
2a), are fixed to two parallel shafts and pressed against each other under a constant contact load. Driven by a
motor through a train of gear, the specimens are rotating along with the shafts. The rotating speed can be

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controlled, so that when the linear speeds of two wheels are equal at the contact point (V1=V2), a pure rolling
contact is achieved. When V1 and V2 are different (V1 ? V2) and both wheels are rotating, a combined
rolling-sliding can be realized. Whilst when one of the specimen is fixed, and the other is rotating, then wear
is a pure sliding. In this case, the fixed specimen can be a block, so that a name of block-on-wheel is used.
Abrasive particles may be added to the contact area, achieving a three body abrasive wear testing.
A pin-on-disc wear tester

a) Pin-on-disc-machine b) arrangement of samples c) geometry of pin

Fig. 3: Schematic of a pin-on-disc wear test and the arrangement of samples

In a pin-on-disc wear tester, a pin is loaded against a flat rotating disc specimen such that a circular wear path
is described by the machine. The machine can be used to evaluate wear and friction properties of materials
under pure sliding conditions. Either disc or pin can serve as specimen, while the other as counterface. Pin
with various geometry can be used. A convenient way is to use ball of commercially available materials such
as bearing steel, tungsten carbide or alumina (Al2O3) as counterface, so that the name of ball-on-disc is used.

Wear of metals

Clean metals and alloys exhibit high adhesion in a solid contact, consequently high friction and wear. The
wear rate in high vacuum can be very high. Due to contamination, chemical films are formed; adhesion is
reduced resulting in reduction of friction and wear.

In metal-to-metal wear tests, high stresses can results in galling and seizure even after a single cycle. To
determine galling stress, button and block galling test is performed where new specimens are tested at
progressively higher stress levels until galling just starts. Galling usually appears as a groove or a score mark
and galling stress acts as a good measure for wear resistance of a given material pair.

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Wear of Polymers

Polymers can be classified as “Plastics” and “rubbers”

a) Plastics: wear of plastics takes place in following three stages

i) Break –in period
ii) Steady – wear period
iii) Sever wear period

Break – in period is the initial time when a film of polymer is transferred to the mating material. In this
period, the rate of build-up of transfer film depends on the orientation of the surface finish relative to the
sliding direction. The loss rate from the polymer is high in this period.

During steady – wear period, the surface finish appears to have no effect on wear rate. Wear in this period is
very small and the loss rate of the polymer reduces to less than 1% of the initial rate.

Severe wear period starts when the transfer film formed during the initial period, is removed or damaged by
thermal degradation.

b) Rubber: Rubber is a polymer but differs from plastic as rubber molecules are cross linked and often
known as elastomer. Rubber wears generally by two mechanism; tearing and fatigue.

The tearing mechanism occurs when sliding on rough surfaces. The fatigue wear occurs when solids on
undulating surfaces without sharp protrusions.

Wear of Ceramics Materials:

Ceramics, which are inert nonmetallic solids, and a variation of ceramics called cermets, which are metallic
bonded ceramics have been used for tribological purposes for decades. Although high manufacturing costs
have limited their applicability, they have been used in special applications, such as high- temperature or
highly corrosive environments, and in situations that require resistance to wear.

Ceramics are used for bearings operating at high temperature and in very aggressive environments. They are
also used as substitute for conventional metal alloys in some applications. Examples: Bearings, Mechanical
seals High-speed machine tools, Guides and Rollers, Wear plates, Advanced Heat Engines, Medical
prostheses, Ceramic dies.

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Ceramics can wear by chipping because of their brittleness. Surface and sub surface cracks form, join, and
release small chips of material. A fine powder is produced as this wear debris is ground up in the wear
process. Therefore, ceramics are sensitive to high contact stresses or to any contact condition leading to a state
of stress that contains tensile components. Metals and plastics can deform plastically to relieve high contact
stresses before fracture occurs. Ceramics can deform plastically under the hydrostatic stress associated with
concentrated contact, but the plastic deformation involved is very small, when compared with metals and
polymers.

Because of repeated stress application, involving repeated pass sliding and repeated impacts etc., the fatigue
mode of wear is predominant. In ceramics materials, while ductile gain boundaries, the fatigue mechanism are
similar to the low cyclic fatigue mechanisms of metals. Because of brittle behavior, wear of ceramics occur by
the damage mechanism formed by sharp static indenter. For materials with brittle grain boundaries, fracture
occurs in fewer cycles and cracks propagate quickly because of high residual and induced stress.

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