Sliding wear prediction of ductile materials

This paper describes a comprehensive experimental and theoretical investigation of metallic sliding wear. A novel asperity test was proved to be capable of investigating the wear procedure and to interpret the behaviour of the metal in response to wear. The test enables the rapid acquisition of wear data under controlled surface roughness and lubrication conditions. A series of tests were performed with a range of asperity angles on aluminium, brass and copper. With the modification and approximation proposed, the rigid–plastic model can predict friction and wear well. This work makes possible a fundamental approach to predicting sliding wear. These results also give an estimate of the material properties needed to predict wear. It is possible to extend the single asperity test to use on real engineering surfaces.