Wear Faimres

Z?y ¿Ae x4SM Committee on Analysis of Wear Faiiures*

W E A R is a surface phenomenon that
occurs by displacement and deíachment
of materia]. Because wear usually i m -
plies a progressive Joss of weight and
alteration of dimensions over a period of
time, wear probleins generally differ from
those entailing our.right breakage. A l -
though worn parts rnay break, i t is more
likely for a w o m part to be removed from
service because it no longer can perform
satisfactoriiy or because the quality of
its performance is marginal. Although
• the repiacement of a broken part is se!-
dom questionable, the repiacement of a
worn part may be. particularly i n the
absence of established standards.
All mechanical components that
undergo siiding or rolling contact are
subject to some degree of wear. Typical
of such components are bearings, gears,
seáis, guides, pistón rings, splines, brakes
and clutches. Wear of these components
may range from mild, polishing-type at-
tritiou to rapid and severo removal of
Types of Wear by one type of wear„ analysis may be
relatively simple. However, many wesr
Wear. according to a dictionary defini- faiiures result from a cembinarion of
tion, is deterioration due to use. Gradual types or modes of wear. I n addition, as
deterioration often is implied and the wear progresses there may be a change in
effeets are mostly surface phenomena, but the predominant wear mode. Under these
these restrictions should not be rigor- conditions, analysis is more complex.
ousiy applied i n failure analysis. Neither Adhesive wear, also known as scoring,
should the assumption that wear is en- gaíling, seizing and scufnng, occurs when
tirely mechanical be accepted, because two metallic surfaces siide against each
chernicai corrosión may combine with other under pressure. Microscopio pro-
other wear factors. jections or asperities bond at the siiding
Wear faiiures may be gradual, rapid interface under very high local pressure.
or, occasionally, catastrophically sudden. Subsequently, the siiding forces fracture
Sudden fracture is not accepted univer- the bonds, tearing metal from one r¿urface
sally as an aspect of wear, but i t must be and transferring .it to the other. T h i s
considered i n analysis of wear failure i f results i n the formation of minute cavi-
for no other reason than that the more ties on one surface and minute projec-
wear-resistant materials are often quite tions on the other — which, i n tura, can
brittle and fracture-prone. Faiiures can lead to further damage. T h e process may
oceur over a wide range of temperatures also result in the formation of loóse wear
and stresses. Stress is almost always i n - partióles, and these m a y contribuíe to
volved with wear and thus is a primary abrasive wear.
consideraron i n failure analysis; uníor- Abrasive wear is dispífu-tínie.'' -. of Ma-
1

material w i t h accompanying surface
roughening. Whether or not wear con-
stitutes failure of a component depends
on whether the wear deieteriousiy affeets
the ability of the component to function.
For exampie, even mild, polishing-type
wear of a close-fitting spool in a hydraulic
val ve may cause excessive leakage and
thus .constitute faiiuro, even though the
surface of the spool is smooth and ap-
parently undamaged. On the other hand,
a hammer in a rock crusher, for example,
can continué to function satisfactoriiy
i n spite of severe denting, gouging and
the removal of as much as several inches
of surface metal.
Lubrica tion implies the intentional use
of a substance that reduces friction be-
tween contactiiig surfaces. Lubricaiion
is a mitigating factor i n wear. and thus
lubricated and noniubricated wear, al-
though they are not wear mechanisms,
are differentiated i n this article. I n gen-
eral, noniubricated wear is associated
with those types of applicatiohs i n which
the use of a lubrican! either is not feasible
or is not possible.
tunateíy, often oniy qualitative evalua- terial from a surface by contact with hard
tion of stress is possible. projections on a mating surface, or with
For many years, there was consider- hard partióles, that are moving relative
able disagreement regarding the types or to the wearing surface. When hard par-
íorms of wear and the primary cause of tióles are involved, they may be trapped
each type of wear. The terminology of between two siiding surfaces and abrade
wear was unsettled, and basic definitions one or both of them, or they may be
were not standardized. None of these embedded in either of the surfaces and
probiems has been completely resolved, abrade the opposing surface. Abrasive
but áreas of general agreement continué wear may oceur in the dry state or in the
to emerge. I t is now widely accepted that presence of a liquid. I n the next exampie,
there are five primary types of wear — abrasive wear was caused by silt carried
adhesive wear, abrasive - wear, erosive by water pumped from a river.
wear, corrosive weár, and suríace-íatigue
wear. I n addition, there are other types of Exainple 1. Failure of a Hard-Faced StairJess
wear which, although not regarded as pri- Steel Pump Sleeve Because of Abrasive •
mary, are afforded sepárate status. These Wear by River-Water SUt (Fig. 1)
incíude erosion-corrosion, fretting, and Whenever river water is used in a :nar.u-
cavitation erosión. facturing process. the presence of abrasive
I n general, wear may be defined as silt in the water can be ¿xpected to resuit
dama ge to a soiid surface caused by the in wear probiems. A typical wear problem
was encountered in a brine piant when
removal or displacement tíf material by river water was pumped into the plant by
the mechanical action of a contacting a battery of vertical pumps. each operating
solid, liqúid or gas. Wear is usually at 3600 rpm and at a discharge pressure of
detrimental, but i n mild form (such as 120 psi. The pumps were lubricated by
"breaking i n " ) , wear may be beneficia!. means "of. controiié'd 'leakage. The lvá-m.-
WTien a failure is caused predominantly OD pump sleeves were made of an austenií-

VH O \ V A R D S. A V E R Y . Cbairnuvi, Consulting Engineer, A b e x C o r p . ; neer; TKO.NT V . P H I L I P , Supervisor - T o o l and A l l o y Research, Research

"CÍ'AYN'F. L . A M B E R , M e t a i l u r g i c a i Engineer, Energy C o n t r o l D i v . , Bendix
.Corp.; K E . N N E T H G . B U D I N S K I , Materials Engineering L a b o r a t o r y , East-
man K o d a k C o . ; A . j . C I E N K U S , Engineering Research, International
Harvester Co.
J O H X D o n . D , Manager; "Rohr.ical Deve'.opment, Abrasion-Resistant
Aüoys. C l i m a x M o i v b d c p u m Co.; H . A . F A B E R T , J R . , Technicni D i -
rector, Arnsco D i v . . A b e x C o r p . : W . A . G L A E S E R , L ub r i ca r i o n Mechanics
Secrion. Batteile-Coiuinbus Laboratories; D . W I L L Í A M H A L L , Scientiñc
- a s e a r e n Staff, F o r d M o t o r Co.; T E L F E R E. N O R M A N , C o n s u l t i n g Engi-
and Development Center, Carpenter Technology C o r p . : B. W . ROBERTS,
Manager. M a t e r i a l s Technology, Steam T u r b i n e D i v . . Westinghouse
Electric C o r p . ; L . W . S A R V E R , Research and Development Div., Babcoc*k
& Wilcox Co.
R. C. T u C i C E R . J R . , Manager, Materials Deveiopnient, Linde Div.,
Union Carbide C o r p . ; D A V I D WALL.--.CE, Sénior Technicaí Manager,
Metaüic Materiai>. Black and Decker Manuíacturing C o . : P A U L M .
UNTER\TEISER, Secretary, Sénior Editor. Metals H a n d b o o k , American
Societv for M e t a l s . .

Sleeve at Ieft. coaied with a fused nickel-base
ard facing alloy. shows severe abrasive wear by
iver-water silt after 3387 hr of service. Sleeve
at right. coaied with plasma-deposited chro-
mium oxide, shows little evidence of wear after
5190 hr of service.
Fig. 1. Hard-faced austenitic stainless
steel pump sleeves used to pump river
water to a brine plant (Example 1)
ic stainless steel and were hard faced w i t h
a fused, nickel-base hard facing alloy
(hardness: approximately Rockwell C 58,
or 653 d p h i . Packing for the pumps con-
sisted of a braided Teflon-asbestos material.
After several weeks of operation, the
pumps began to leak and to spray water
over the platforms on which they were
mounted at the edge of the river. I n addi-
tion to decreasing pumping efficiency, the
leaks resulted i n the formation of ice on the
platforms i n cold weather. thus creating a
safecy hazard. The leaks were caused by
excessive sleeve wear that resulted from the
presence of fine, abrasive silt in the river
water. The silt, which contained hard parti-
cles of süica, could not be filtered out of the
inlet water effectively. A severely worn
sleeve that was removed from a pump after
only 3387 hr of service is shown at ieft i n
Fig. 1. Máximum depth of wear on this
sleeve was about H« i n .
Corrective Action. T o prevent excessive
sleeve wear. the nickel-base hard facing al-
'oy coating on the sleeves was replaced with
a plasma-deposited chromium oxide coating
w i t h a hardness of about 1300 dph. The
coating was ground and lapped to a thick-
ness of 0.004 to 0.005 i n . and a surface finish
of 6 to 8 micro-in. Wear resistance in service
was extremely favorable, as shown by the
sleeve at right i n Fig. 1, which was removed
from a pump after 5190 hr of service.
W e a r Failures
Erosive wear is abrasive wear involving
loss of surface material by contact with a
fluid that contains partióles. Relative
moción between the surface and the ñuid
is essential to this process, and the forcé
on the partióles that actually inflict the
damage is applied kinetically. Although
erosive wear most often involves solid
partióles, one type — liquid-impinge-
ment erosión — is caused by liquid drop-
lets carried i n a rapidly moving stream of
gas. Erosión i n which che relative moción
of solid particles is nearly paral leí to the
eroded surface is called abrasive erosión,
whereas erosión i n which the relative
motion of particles is nearly normal to
the eroded surface is called impingement
erosión.
Corrosive wear is a type of abrasive
wear i n which chemical or electrochemi-
cal reaction with the environment signifi-
cantly contributes to the wear rate. I n
some instances, chemical reaction takes
place first and is íollowed by the ¿emoval
of corrosión producís by mechanical
action (abrasión). However, mechanical
action may precede chemical action and
result i n the formation of very small par-
ticles of debris, which subsequently react
with the environment. Chemical reaction.
even when m i l d , and mechanical action
may be mutually enhancing, as i n the
following example.
Example 2. Wear Failure of a Stainless
Steel Drive-Roller Sleeve Under Mildly
Corrosive Conditions (Fig. 2)
The drive-roller sleeve shown in Fig. 2
was used at an end of a belt conveyor for
anchracite coal and associated rock mined
with the coal. The sleeve, which was made of
type 440A stainless steel and hardened and
tempered to Rockwell C 57, was partly sub-
merged in water during its seven months of
service. Failure resulted predominantly
from abrasive wear under mildly corrosive
conditions. The service life of the type 440A
sleeve was far longer than that of austenitic
stainless steel sleeves, which lasted only six
to nine weeks. However, further improve-
ment was obtained w i t h a type 440C sleeve
heat treated to a hardness of Rockwell C 60.
This sleeve exhibited only negligible wear
after six months of service.
Erosion-corrosion is a type of wear i n
which there is relative movement be-
tween a surface and a corrosive fluid
(which also may carry abrasive par-
tióles), the wear rate being directly re-
lated to the rate of relative movement.
When abrasive particles are present,
material removal is effected mainly by
contact with the particles (erosive wear).
A special form of erosion-corrosion
called cauitation erosión can occur on
a surface i n contact with a liquid that
does not contain particulate matter. I n
cavitación erosión, the repeáted forma-
tion and collapse of vapor bubbles. at
the surface imposes large repetitive con-
tact stresses that can cause pitting or
135
spalling. (Damage b y c a v i t a t i o n erosión
strongly resembles thac by l i q u i d - i m -
pingement erosión, as discussed i n the
article that begins on page 160.)
A n o t h e r special f o r m of erosion-corro-
sion, fretting (sometimes k n o w n as wear
o x i d a t i o n , f r i c t i o n o x i d a t i o n , or chafing),
occurs between t w o c o n t a c t i n g suríaces
subjected to repeated, s m a l l - a m p l i t u d e
relative s l i d i n g , such as f r o m vibración,
i n the presence of oxygen. T h e damage
m a y appear as pies or grooves, w i t h sur-
r o u n d i n g corrosión producís (oxides), on
one or both surfaces. F r e t t i n g is a com-
plex process a n d o f t e n involves a com-
binación of corrosive. adhesive a n d abra-
sive wear. As a result of vibración,
surface-fatigue wear also m a y be involved
in fretting.
T h e following example describes ero-
sion-corrosion of an a l u m i n u m a l l o y tube
b r o u g h t abouc by a n antifreeze fluid sus-
pected of being corrosive to a l u m i n u m .
Example 3. Failure of an Aluminum Alloy
Heat-Exchanger Tube by Erosion-
Corrosion (Fig. 3)
One of the tubes in an aluminum alloy
3003-O heat exchanger used to cool trans-
mission oil i n a heavy off-the-road vehicle
developed a leak after 1459 hr of operation.
A t the time the failure oceurred, the heat-
exchanger tubes contained a permanent-
type antifreeze and water. Although ihetube
that failed was not returned to the labora-
tory for examination, sufficient evidence
was obtained from examination of adjacent
tubes in the heat exchanger to establish the
cause of failure.
Macroscopic examination of the inside
surface of an adjacent tube revealed a pro-
nounced paitern of erosion-corrosion i n the
inlet área, as shown i n Fig. 3(a) and (b).
The pattern was most pronounced at the i n -
let; away from the inlet the pattern became
less severe and disappeared entirely ac
about 2 in. from the inlet. Virtually no evi-
dence of erosion-corrosion was found at the
outlet; however, a mild condición of corro-
sión pitting was observed, as shown i n
Fig. 3(c).
A longitudinal cross section through an
eroded área was prepared for metallo-
graphic examination. As shown i n Fig. 3(d),
the pattern revealed indicates that the
cause of failure was erosion-corrosion. This
form of attack is associated with turbulent
aerated fluids. If the fluids are corrosive or
contain particulate debris, attack is more
aggressive. Although the antifreeze fluid in
Fig. 2. Worn. type 440A stainless steel
drive-roller sleeve that was used ir. a
belt conveyor under mildly corrosive con-
ditions (Example 2)
 136 Wear Failures

mitted for failure analysis, i t was deter-

mined that spalling of the hard chromium
plating had been caused by the Hertzian
contact stresses imposed by the rolling balls
in the linear ball bushing. This failure i l -
lustrates that plated coatings. hard or soft.
should not be used to resist wear by rolling
elements. because the mechanical bond of
the coating to the substrato often is insuíE-
cient to resist surface fatigue and conse-
quent spalling.
Corrective Action. A n improved shaft was
made from S7 tool steel selectively car-
burized to a depth of 0.050 i n . on the bear-
ing surface only; the notched end was not
carburized, but was hardened and tem-
pered to Rockwell C 56. This provided both
a shock-resistant notching tool and a very
hard, wear-resistant bearing surface that
could resist spalling under the Hertzian
contact stresses of the balls i n the ball bush-
ing. After 2 /¡ years of service. the improved
l

shaft showed no evidence of wear.

Role of Friction ¡n W e a r

F r i c t i o n between t w o c o n t a c t i n g sur-
faces is caused b y the same contact con-
d i t i o n s t h a t are basic to the wear process.
F r i c t i o n a n d wear b o t h begin a t locaiized
contact points. I t is a t these concentrated
contacts t h a t h i g h stresses cause fracture,
Fig. 3. Four specimens from an aluminum alloy 3003-O heat-exchanger tube, showing: shearing or flow; m i n u t e fragmente may
(a) and (b) a pronounced pattern of erosion-corrosion; (c) a miid condition of corrosión be separated f r o m the surface to become
pitting found near the tube outlet; and (d) a pattern of erosion-corrosion on a longi- wear debris. T h e process is complex and
tudinal cross section prepared for metallographic examination (Example 3) can follow one or more of severa 1 mech-
anisms, d e p e n d i n g on the forces between
the heat exchanger was not available for Example 4. Spalling Failure of a Notching the c o n t a c t i n g surfaces a n d o n the com-
examination, i t was suspected of being Tool Resulting From Surface Fatigue position a n d properties of the surface and
corrosive to aluminum. of Chromium Plating (Fig. 4) the s u r r o u n d i n g e n v i r o n m e n t , i n c l u d i n g
Surface fatigue is a special t y p e of sur- A notching tool used to notch polystyrene the effect of any p a r t i c u l a t e m a t t e r i n the
face damage whereby partióles of m e t a l sheet 0.020 to 0.040 i n . thick failed after a environment.
are detached f r o m a surface under h i g h short period of service, when chromium
plating spalled from the shaft of the tool. Surface Features. W h e n a soiid cube
c y c l i c contact stresses. causing p i t t i n g or is placed o n a fíat surface, one face of the
The tool, which is shown i n Fig. 4, consisted
s p a l l i n g . F o r more detailed discussion of of a shaft with a notched end that was ma- cube appears to be i n intímate contact
this t y p e of damage, see the section on chined from S7 tool steel and hardened and w i t h the flat surface. H o w e v e r , real sur-
E v a l u a t i o n of Surface-Fatigue P i t t i n g , tempered to Rockwell C 45, and a linear ball faces ha ve a certain a m o u n t of roughness
pages 151-152 i n this arricie; the section bushing that rodé on the shaft. To prevent and waviness; thus, the a c t u a l área of
o n C o n t a c t F a t i g u e , page 123 i n the shaft wear, a layer of hard chromium plat-
contact between the cube face a n d the flat
a r t i c l e on F a t i g u e Failures: a n d the sec- ing 0.002 in. thick was deposited on the
bearing surface of the shaft. surface (true-contact área) is the sum oí
t i o n on F a i l u r e b y R o l l i n g - C o n t a c t Fa- a very large n u m b e r of m i n u t e áreas
tigue, pages 425-430 i n the article on I n normal operation. the notched end of where h i g h points o n opposing surfaces
Failures of R o l l i n g - E l e m e n t Bearings. the shaft was driven downward upon the
contact one another. I n d i v i d u a l áreas oí
polystyrene sheet, beneath which was lo-
T h e n e x t e x a m p l e describes s p a l l i n g of cated a tool steel cutting die. The shaft. or true contact are about 1 0 to 1 0 " ' i n . i n
- 3 -

a layer of c h r o m i u m p l a t i n g on tool steel punch, was cam actuated and operated at a diameter a n d are r a n d o m l y d i s t r i b u t e d
t h a t was causea b y surface fatigue a n d speed of about 50 strokes per minute for 8 over the apparent-contact área.
resulted i n f a i l u r e of a tool. to 24 hr per day. When the shaft was sub-
T h e surface roughness and waviness of
m a n u f a c t u r e d parte have d i s t i n c t i v e geo-_
metrical patterns characteristic of the
process t h a t produced the parte. T h e sur-
face of a t u r n e d shaft is made u p of ridges
and furrows; the surface of a g r o u n d ball-
bearing raceway consiste of shallow,
parallel, U-shape troughs w i t h t h i n
ridges between t h e m ; the surface of a
i gold-plated electrical contact n o r m a l l y
li is a d i s t r i b u t i o n of s m a l l convex surfaces,
resembling a mass of close-packed bub-
bles. T h e size a n d corifiguration of these
fine-scaie surface features determine the
actual c o n d i t i o n s of contact between op-
Fig. 4. Notching tool that failed in service when a layer of hard chromium plating spalled
from the S7 tool steel shaft (Example 4) posing surfaces, a n d w h a t occurs at these

poínts of c o n t a c t has a significant i n f l u -
ence o n f r i c t i o n a n d wear.
Microscopic stress conditions at
.joints of contact can be described most
s i m p l y b y the a n a l o g y of a smooth sphere
s u p p o r t e d b y a s m o o t h p l a n a r surface.
T h e r e s u l t i n g stress a t the p o i n t of
tangency is sufficiently h i g h t o cause
elastic d e f o r m a t i o n of b o t h the sphere
a n d the fíat surface, a n d the m i n u t e con-
tact área spreads o u t u n t i l the stress is
reduced t o s l i g h t l y below the elastic
l i m i t . U p o n a p p l i c a t i o n of an external
load i n a d i r e c t i o n p e r p e n d i c u l a r to the
p l a n a r surface, the área of contact w i l l
increase r o u g h l y i n p r o p o r t i o n to the i n -
crease i n l o a d t a k e n to the t w o - t h i r d s
power. As l o a d is increased, the elastic
l i m i t of the p l a n a r surface ( w h i c h is re-
lated to hardness) e v e n t u a l l y is exceeded.
W h e n the elastic l i m i t is exceeded, a per-
m a n e n t dent i n the surface occurs. ( T h i s
is comparable t o w h a t occurs i n a h a r d -
ness test, i n w h i c h the penetrator is
harder t h a n the surface being tested.)
Because d e f o r m a t i o n of true-contact
áreas u n d e r l o a d is s i m i l a r to deforma-
t i o n of the área u n d e r t h e penetrator i n a
hardness test, p e n e t r a t i o n hardness is a
m a t e r i a l p r o p e r t y t h a t provides an ap-
p r o x i m a t e measure of resistance to wear.
U n d e r s i m i l a r c o n t a c t c o n d i t i o n s , harder
m a t e r i a l s g e n e r a l l y e x h i b i t greater wear
'sistance t h a n softer m a t e r i a l s .
_ Frictional F o r c é . W h e n one s o l i d b o d y
sudes over a n o t h e r , h i g h spots o n the
opposing surfaces c o n t a c t one another
a n d either (a) d e f o r m u n d e r localized
contact stress or (b) b o n d together a n d
t h e n shear a p a r t . F r i c t i o n a l forcé is a
measure of resistance t o tangential m o -
t i o n , a n d is the surn of the forces r e q u i r e d
to shear the bonded h i g h spots a n d de-
f o r m the u n b o n d e d ones. A s s l i d i n g
progresses, a steady f r i c t i o n a l forcé is
m a i n t a i n e d b y f o r m a t i o n a n d shearing of
m a n y t i n y b o n d s between the surfaces.
I t has l o n g been k n o w n t h a t for m a n y
m a t e r i a l systems the f r i c t i o n a l forcé be-
tween t w o c o n t a c t i n g surfaces is propor-
t i o n a l to n o r m a l l o a d a n d is independent
of the a p p a r e n t - c o n t a c t área. A c c o r d i n g
to m o d e r n f r i c t i o n t h e o r y , the t r u e - c o n -
t a c t área increases p r o p o r t i o n a l l y w i t h
load, a n d f r i c t i o n a l forcé is proporcional
to load a n d t o t r u e - c o n t a c t área. I f fric-
t i o n a l forcé is p r o p o r t i o n a l to the s u m of
t h e áreas of t h e m i c r o s c o p i c j u n c t i o n s
being sheared ( t r u e - c o n t a c t área), the íol-
lowing simple relation results:
F = SA (Eql)
where F is f r i c t i o n a l forcé, i n pounds; S is
ear s t r e n g t h of the weaker of the two
j n s t i t u e n t s of the j u n c t i o n , i n pounds
per square i n c h ; a n d A is true contact
área, i n square inches.
T h e adhesión t h e o r y of f r i c t i o n as-
sumes t h a t adhesión occurs at contact
j u n c t i o n s a n d t h a t f r i c t i o n a l forcé equals
W e a r Failures
the sum of the forces r e q u i r e d t o shear
those j u n c t i o n s . T h e t r u e - c o n t a c t área is
inversely p r o p o r t i o n a l t o the hardness of
the softer m a t e r i a l a n d p r o p o r t i o n a l t o
the n o r m a l l o a d :
A = W/p (Eq 2)
where A is t r u e - c o n t a c t área, i n square
m i l l i m e t e r s ; W is n o r m a l l o a d (or contact
f o r c é ) , i n k i l o g r a m s ; a n d p is i n d e n t a -
t i o n hardness ( o f t e n d e t e r m i n e d i n a^
Vickers test), i n k i l o g r a m s per square
m i l l i m e t e r . E q u a t i o n 2 can be combined
w i t h Eq 1 to give:
F = SW/p, or F/W = S/p (Eq3)
where S/p — ¡x, the coefficient of f r i c t i o n .
Figure 5 shows the r e l a t i o n s h i p between
W, the n o r m a l l o a d , a n d F, the f r i c t i o n a l
forcé, o n a b o d y s l i d i n g across a sta-
t i o n a r y h o r i z o n t a l surface.
I t m a y be n o t e d f r o m the equation for
c a l c u l a t i n g t h e coefficient of f r i c t i o n ,
\x — S/p, t h a t the coefficient is lowest ganic m a t e r i a l o n a m e t a l surface can
when the hardness of the softer member
of the c o n t a c t i n g p a i r is h i g h reía t i ve t o
its shear s t r e n g t h . Because the u s u a l
treatments t h a t increase the hardness of
a metal or a l l o y also increase its shear
strength, a h i g h r a t i o of hardness to shear
strength is seldom f o u n d i n a single m e t a l
or a l l o y . A h i g h r a t i o can be achieved,
however, b y u s i n g a cornposite m a t e r i a l .
I n wear-resistant e l e c t r i c a l contacts, for
example, a l o w coefficient of f r i c t i o n has
been achieved b y p l a t i n g a h a r d substrate
w i t h a very t h i n l a y e r of gold.
T h e e q u a t i o n ¡x = S/p is useful i n the
analysis of f r i c t i o n phenomena. H o w e v e r ,
the factor S (shear s t r e n g t h ) is difficult t o
measure for real c o n t a c t i n g surfaces, a n d
t h u s w i d e v a r i a t i o n s i n coefficient of f r i c -
t i o n are observed for a n y given m a t e r i a l
combination.
Surface Conditions. O n real surfaces,
the factor S (shear s t r e n g t h ) i n the equa-
t i o n for t h e coefficient of f r i c t i o n p r o b -
ably represents a complex parameter n o t
o n l y associated w i t h the y i e l d properties
of the weaker member of a s l i d i n g p a i r ,
b u t also dependent o n the c o n d i t i o n of
the surfaces i n contact. I f a bonded j u n c -
t i o n is weak a n d shearing takes place a t
the bond a n d n o t t h r o u g h subsurface m a -
L F r i c t i o n a l forcé, F(F=/xW) compcnenr
Fig. 5. Schematic representation of rela-
tion between normal load and frictional
forcé on an object sliding across a sta-
tionary horizontal surface
137
ferial, the c o n d i t i o n of the surface has a
decided effect o n the f r i c t i o n level a n d
m a y c o n t r i b u t e to b o u n d a r y l u b r i c a t i o n .
There are m a n y ways of weakening the
j u n c t i o n . I n fact, a " n a t u r a l " surface is so
contaminated w i t h adsorbed gases a n d
solids t h a t contact i n a i r generally i n -
h i b i t s b o n d i n g of c o n t a c t i n g asperities.
Problems encountered w i t h s l i d i n g s u r -
faces i n space missions have demon-
strated the effect of t r u l y clean surfaces
kept clean i n a gasless e n v i r o n m e n t .
U n d e r these c o n d i t i o n s where n a t u r a l l y
occurring oxides a n d adsorbed films have
been removed b y heat or ion b o m b a r d -
ment, m e t a l surfaces b o n d together. I n
such an e n v i r o n m e n t , where conventional
lubricants w o u l d evapórate, low-shear-
strength, low-vapor-pressure solids, such
as metal sulfides, selenides and t e l l u r i d e s ,
have been a p p l i e d as bonded coatings to
reduce f r i c t i o n .
E v e n a few m o l e c u l a r layers of an or-
account for a large-percentage decrease
i n its coefficient of f r i c t i o n . P u b l i s h e d
friction-coefficient valúes therefore are
often h i g h l y questionable because of the
effect of surface films.
N a t u r a l l y o c c u r r i n g metal oxides gen-
e r a l l y reduce adhesión forces of sur-
faces. Some oxides are better " l u b r i -
cants" t h a n others. F o r instance, the
f r i c t i o n p r o d u c e d b y hardened steel s l i d -
i n g against hardened steel can have a
threefold v a r i a t i o n as the p a r t i a l pres-
sure of oxygen o n the surface is v a r i e d .
T h e lower oxides of i r o n (Fe.304 or FeO)
exist at l o w p a r t i a l pressures of oxygen
and have better l u b r i c a t i n g properties
t h a n Fe-iO-i, the i r o n oxide n o r m a l l y
found i n air.
I t is possible t o encounter h i g h f r i c t i o n
i n s l i d i n g contact w h e n a c o m b i n a t i o n of
h i g h speed a n d h e a v y load is encoun-
tered. T h i s c o m b i n a t i o n produces f r i c -
t i o n a l h e a t i n g , softening of surface layers
and b r e a k t h r o u g h of " p r o t e c t i v e " oxide
films, b r i n g i n g clean, active m e t a l s u r -
faces i n t o contact. T h i s process is the
basis for f r i c t i o n w e l d i n g , w h i c h can be
used t o j o i n metáis of different chemical
compositions.
Surface Roughness and Crystai Struc-
ture. Other factors t h a t have been f o u n d
to be i n f i u e n t i a l i n c o n t r o l l i n g f r i c t i o n a l
forces i n c l u d e surface roughness a n d
crystai structure. Generally, f r i c t i o n is
highest w h e n a surface is very r o u g h a n d
when i n t e r l o c k i n g of jagged h i g h p o i n t s
occurs, or w h e n the c o n t a c t i n g surfaces
are very s m o o t h , a l l o w i n g surface tensión
of fluid films or m o l e c u l a r a t t r a c t i o n be-
tween the surfaces t o become significant.
Studies of s l i d i n g f r i c t i o n using single-
crystal m a t e r i a l s i n h i g h vacuum have
shown t h a t m a t e r i a l s w i t h hexagonal,
ciose-packed c r y s t a i structures e x h i b i t
lower f r i c t i o n t h a n m a t e r i a l s w i t h body-
centered-cubic, face-centered-cubic, or
 13-8 W e a r Faiiures

-Sondee sliding against the flat surface of a ring

at 1.8 meters per second under a 400-
gram load are given for various combina-
tions of cylinder and ring materials i n
Table 1.
The wear coefficient is derived from
experiments i n which a stationary speci-
(o! (b) - S u e c r e c escerey (O -Wear-debns partic 5
men with a small surface área rubs
Fig. 6. Schematic illustration of one procesó by which a partióle of wear debris is de- against a moving specimen with a large
tached during adhesiva wear. As the surfaces slide across one another, a bonded junction surface área. Wear of the small stationary
(a) is torn from one asperity (b), then is sheared off by impact with a larger. adjacent specimen is measured as loss i n weight or
asperity to form the particle of wear debris (c). volume, and /' is derived from Eq 4.
Wear rate of this specimen generally is
tetragonal crystal structures. I t also has stress is about three times the tensile high, because its contact área is i n con-
been found that the coefficient of friction yield stress). Thus, the lower the yield stant contact and does not have a chance
varíes significantly depending on the point the larger the true-contact área for to cool and oxidize as readily as the
crystallographic direction of sliding. a given load, and the greater the wear. larger moving surface.
Sliding i n the close-packed direction in Furthermore, because each asperity con- For most practical applications,
any crystal system produces the lowest tact during motion of the surfaces has a volume or weight loss is converted to a
friction. However, regardless of crystal- statistical probability of producing a ¡inear valué representing penetration or
lographic direction, the coefficient of fric- wear particle, wear is proportional to the decrease in length. Therefore. the sizes
tion is high for clean surfaces of crystals; total sliding distance. (Figure 6 is a and configurations of contacting bodies
consequently, the re are few applications schematic representaron of a sequence are important to consider when relating
in which the crystallographic direction of events by which a particle of wear Eq 4 to component design. For instance,
of sliding is important. debris can be produced in adhesive wear.) in analyzing a worn brush in an electric
Graphite is an outstanding solid lu- A simple equation has been derived on motor, it may be necessary to compare
bricant that has very low friction, ap- the basis of these assumptions: the actual wear (decrease in length) to
parently because of its hexagonal crystal the design wear rate, determined from
structure and easy slip i n close-packed V = KlW/p ( E q 4) laboratory tests of the brush material.
(0001; directions. However. the low fric- I n a worn journal bearing, the increase
where V is volume loss, i n cu m m ; K is in diameter (resulting in an increase in
tion of graphite actually is a consequence wear coefficient; l is sliding distance, i n
of adsorbed water vapor on exposed basal bearing clearance) may need to be related
mm; W is normal load, i n kg; and p is in- to a predicted wear rate, which would
planes. Without adsorbed water vapor, dentation hardness, in kg per sq mm.
the friction of graphite is high. have established the design life of the
I t has been verified experimentally bearing. The volume loss predicted by
that wear is proportional to load and Eq 4 does not depend on área. However,
Mechcmism of A d h e s i v e W e a r distance of sliding, and inversely propor- because the attribute having design im-
tional to the hardness of the softer ma- portance is a linear dimensión, the same
Trae adhesive wear is most often terial. The principie that wear is propor- volume loss represents a large linear
found under nonlubricated or dry-con- tional to load holds so long as the wear decrease when the contact área is small
tact conditions and when both contacting oceurs by a single mechanism. Increas- and a small linear decrease when the
surfaces are metallic. Adhesive wear does ing the load to the point where the mech- contact área is large.
oceur in lubricated contact, but on a anism of surface damage changes can be
much reduced scaie compared to non- accompanied by a change in wear rate of
lubricated contact. one order of magnitude. The wear coeffi- Abrasive W e a r *
A simple mathematical model for ad- cient, K, has been interpreted as a mea-
hesive wear has been developed and sure of the probability that each asperity Abrasive wear oceurs when hard par-
modified by several researchers. I t is contact will produce a wear particle. tióles, such as rocks, sand or fragmenta
based on the assumption that wear oceurs The wear coefficients determined experi- of certain hard metáis, slide or roll under
by shearing of the true-contact área be- mentally for various pairs of materials pressure across a surface. This action
tween two contacting surfaces and that cover a wide range of valúes (several cuts grooves across the surface much like
the true-contact área is a function of the orders of magnitude), but for each pair those produced by a cutting tool.
contact yield stress of the surface of the there is a specific valué. Representative Abrasive wear is of considerable im-
softer material (the mean contact yield valúes of K for the end of a cylinder portance to the service life of any part
moving i n relation to an abrasive. Tools
in contact with the ground, such as
Table l . Wear Coefficients for Various Combinations of Materials
Under Conditions of Dry Sliding(a)
plows, cultivators, scraper blades, and
bulldozer blades, are designed to opérate
Wear Hardness of in abrasives. Machines for processing
f Süding combination • ^ coefficient softer member, ores, such as crushers, and for grindíng
Cylinder material Rintc material (JO I0* gr/cm 2
of natural minerals, such as ball milis,
Low-carbon steel Low-carbon steel 7.0 X 10—3 18.6
also are subjected to abrasive wear. For
60-40 brass Hardened steel 6.0 X 10—» 9.5
Teflon Hardened steel 2.5 x 10-3 0.5 many other types of machinery compo-
Bakelite Hardened steel 7.5 x l O - 6 2.5 nents, contact with abrasives is not a
Beryllium copper Hardened steel 3.7XlO-"> 21.0 normal circumstance but may oceur
Tool steel Hardened steel 1.3 x 10—» 85.0 inadvertently.
Stellite Hardened steel 5.5 x 10-5 69.0
Tungsten carbide Low-carbon steel 4.0X10- 15 18.6 •The contents of this section are based largely
Tungsten carbide Tungsten carbide LO x l 0 - « 130.0 on material presented on pages 1 through 4 of
(a: Wear coefficients given are for the end of a cylinder sliding against the fíat surface of a ring S A E Informarion Report HSJ-965, "Abrasive
at 1.8 meters per second under a 400-gram load. Wear"', Society of Automotive Engineers, War-
rendale. Pa., Áug 1966.

Types of Abrasive Wear. Abrasive
wear ¡nay be defined as the removal of
m a t e r i a l f r o m a surface by mechanical
action of abrasive ( h a r d ) partióles i n ccn-
tact w i t h the surface. As noted i n Ref 1 .
the types of abrasive wear m a y be classi-
fied g e n e r a l l y as (a) gouging abrasión,
(b) high-stress g r i n d i n g abrasión, a n d
(c) low-stress s c r a t c h i n g abrasión or
erosión.
Gouging Abrasión. The result of this
type of abrasive wear is the removal of
large particles f r o m a metal surface.
W o r n surfaces show heavy gouges.
High-Stress Grinding Abrasión. This
type of abrasive wear occurs or. the sur-
faces of components used for progressive
fragmentaron of abrasive particles. The
wear is believed to be caused by concen-
trated compressive stress at the point of
abrasive contaet and to result from plástic
flowing and fatiguing of ductile constitu-
ents and cracking of hard constituents of
the metal surface. The use of the term
"high-stress" i n this classification is i n -
tended to i m p l y that the crushing
strength of the abrasive is exceeded.
Low-Stress Scratching Abrasión or
Erosión. The result of this type of
abrasive wear is scratching of the metal
surface, and the scratches are usually
minute. T h e stress imposed on the
abrasive particle does not exceed the
crushing strength of the abrasive.
The action of a hard particle on a sur-
face under the influence of a forcé oblique
to the surface generaily is referred to as
abrasive wear. The interaction between
the particle (of high crushing strength)
and the surface is very much like the i n -
teraction between a cutting tool and a
workpiece i n machining. W i t h a ductile
material, a particle similar to a continu-
ous machining chip is removed from the
surface by each cutting abrasive partido.
W i t h a brittle material, many particles
are removed d u r i n g a single encounter
with an abrasive particle. The parameters
that are important i n metal cutting
should be important also i n abrasive
wear. However. i n contrast to most metal-
cutting operations, i t is difficult to pre-
cisely define the configuration of the cut-
ting faces of abrasive particles because
of their random shape.
Mechanisms of Abrasive Wear. A b r a -
sive wear d i f f e r s f r o m adhesive wear
(Ref 2, 3 a n d 4 ) , w h i c h occurs between
two surfaces. I n adhesive wear, the con-
t a c t i n g asperities o n adjacent surfaces -
b o n d together, a n d the r e s u l t i n g i n t e r -
a c t i o n can lead to the removal of m a t e r i a l
f r o m the surfaces. I n abrasive wear. ma-
t e r i a l is removed f r o m the surfaces by the
c u t t i n g a c t i o n of abrasive particles. T h e
hardness of the abrasive p a r t i c l e must
exceed t h a t of the abraded surface i n
order f o r c u t t i n g to occur. W h e n the
crushing s t r e n g t h of the abrasive is
exceeded, the m e t h o d of m a t e r i a l re-
m o v a l m a y be somewhat different f r o m a
simple c u t t i n g action.
T h e forcé c o m p o n e n t t h a t is n o r m a l to t i c a l l y b y the abrasive i n the manner of
the surface a n d t h a t acts on the h a r d
Wear Failures
particle causes p e n e t r a t i o n o? the surface
by the p a r t i c l e . T h e forcé component t h a t
is parallel to the surface causes relative
tangential m o t i o n to occur between the
particle a n d the surface. T h i s results i n
shearing, p l o w i n g or c h i p p i n g of the sur-
face, w h i c h produces grooves. For d u c t i l e
surfaces a n d h a r d particles w i t h sharp-
edged faces, shearing occurs a n d m e t a l is
removed i n a f o r m resembling a con-
tinuous m a c h i n i n g c h i p . Particles w i t h
smooth-edged or r o u n d e d faces tend to
merely plow a d u c t i l e surface. D u r i n g
plowing, the surface m a t e r i a l is pushed
transversely to the d i r e c t i o n of the par-
ticle m o t i o n to f o r m a groove. M o s t of the
displaced m a t e r i a l piles u p along the
groove edges rather t h a n being removed
f r o m the surface.
T h e severity of abrasive wear for a
given m a t e r i a l a n d abrasive w i l l v a r y
m a r k e d l y , depending on the m a g n i t u d e
of the a c t i n g forces. W h e n the forces are
low. the wear raie per abrasive p a r t i c l e
is also low. T h i s mechanism is sometimes
referred to as scratching (low-stress abra-
sión) when either fixed or loóse particles
are involved. I n shop terminology, this
type of abrasión is referred to as p o l i s h -
ing. I t is called erosión when flowing
loóse particles a t t a c k a single surface.
D u r i n g erosión, the over-all wear ra te can
be high i f the flow ra te of the abrasive
particles is h i g h . W h e n the m a g n i t u d e of
the a c t i n g forces is higher, the wear ra te
per abrasive p a r t i c l e w i l l also be higher,
and the mechanism is referred to as
gouging w h e n either fixed particles or
loóse particles are involved.
W h e n loóse particles are present be-
tween t w o s l i d i n g surfaces (entra p p e d
loóse p a r t i c l e s ) , t h i s t y p e of abrasión is
referred to as l a p p i n g i n shop t e r m i -
nology. T h i s three-body, loose-particle
wear removes less m a t e r i a l per encounter
than t w o - b o d y , fixed-particle wear be-
cause the loóse particles tend to r o l l
w i t h o u t c u t t i n g about 90^ of the t i m e
(Ref 5). I f the stress applied to the abra-
sive is so h i g h as to exceed its c r u s h i n g
strength, t h e n this t y p e of abrasión is re-
ferred to as g r i n d i n g abrasión. H e r e the
abrasive is being ground u p and was i n i -
t i a l l y of a s m a l l size. T h i s high-stress
g r i n d i n g abrasión should not be confused
w i t h machine-shop g r i n d i n g , w h i c h is
classified as gouging abrasión.
W h e n c r u s h i n g of the abrasive occurs,
as i n g r i n d i n g abrasión, the mechanism
of m a t e r i a l removal m a y be somewhat
different f r o m the simple c u t t i n g mech-
anism. T h e abrasive may have l i t t l e o p -
p o r t u n i t y to r o l l or cut befo re c r u s h i n g
occurs, a n d the m a j o r effect o n the
abraded surface w o u l d then be due to the
concentrated compressive stress at the
point of abrasive contaet. The surface of
a d u c t i l e m a t e r i a l w i l l be displaced plas-
an indentation-hardness impression.
139
W i t h m a n y closely spaced impressions,
the displaced m a t e r i a l m a y flow back
and f o r t h , to fail e v e n t u a l l y b y fatigue.
T h e r e is also the p o s s i b i l i t y of some cut-
t i n g a c t i o n b y the r u p t u r i n g abrasive,
w i t h the c u t t i n g forcé being supplied b y
the elastic energy stored i n the com-
pressed abrasive particle. On the surface
of a h a r d m a t e r i a l , l i t t l e plástic displace-
ment w i l l occur. W e a r i n this s i t u a t i o n
may occur as a result of b r i t t l e c r a c k i n g
( c h i p p i n g ) of the surface m a t e r i a l . T h e r e
is also che possibility of subsurface crack-
i n g due to fatigue u n d e r repeated stress-
ing, as occurs i n the s p a l l i n g of b a l l -
bearing raceways.
Analytical Approaches. A l l types of
abrasive wear involve basically the same
mechanism, except perhaps when the
abrasive particle is crushed. P e n e t r a t i o n
and subsequent grooving of the surface
by the abrasive particle occur. W h e n the
abrasive is crushed, grooving of the sur-
face m a y not occur; however, penetra-
t i o n of the surface does occur. T h e ap-
pearance of the wear fragments a n d the
wear surface w i l l v a r y depending o n the
d u c t i l i t y of the surface m a t e r i a l a n d o n
the configuration of the p a r t i c l e .
T h e means by w h i c h forcé is a p p l i e d
to the abrasive p a r t i c l e can be d i v i d e d
i n t o two categories: (a) the direct me-
chanical a p p l i c a t i o n of forcé b y the sur-
faces when entrapped loóse particles are
involved, or by the abrasive bond a n d
the surface when fixed abrasive particles
are involved; and (b) the k i n e t i c applica-
t i o n of forcé resulting f r o m the k i n e t i c -
energy of a flowing abrasive particle as i t
encounters a surface.
T h e first category of forcé a p p l i c a t i o n
is experienced i n gouging abrasión,
g r i n d i n g abrasión a n d scratching abra-
sión. T h e second category is experienced
i n erosión abrasión, a n d pertains to the
h a n d l i n g of abrasives i n p n e u m a t i c or
l i q u i d systems, sand blasting, or dust
erosión of compressor blades i n gas
turbines. T h e second category of forcé
a p p l i c a t i o n is p r o b a b l y n o t as c o m m o n as
the first. However, i t w i l l be considered
here, because a fair a m o u n t of a n a l y t i c a l
w o r k has been carried o u t for this cate-
gory. T h e r e is a d i s t i n c t l y d i f f e r e n t
a n a l y t i c a l expression for abrasive wear
for each category of forcé a p p l i c a t i o n .
Theory of Abrasive Wear With Direct
Mechanical Application of Forcé to Abra-
sive Particles. T h e r e have been several
investigations of abrasive wear i n v o l v i n g
direct mechanical a p p l i c a t i o n of forcé
to the abrasive particles (Ref 5 to 12).
T h e r e is general agreement that s i m p l i -
fica theory results i n the f o l l o w i n g d i f -
ferential expression for volume rate of
wear per u n i t length of sliding, q:
q = dQ/dl, or q <xW/p (Eq5)
where Q is v o l u m e swept out by abra-
sive, / is s l i d i n g distance, W is load, a n d p
 140
EZJ Vete
removed cy
ibrasive ozr'-z
[O]
uiame
of a o r c s i v e .y
pcrticie ( 0 )
Anrcdea
surfecs (o)
Disrance abrasive
pcr:ic;e moved í i )
Fig. 7. ldealized representation of abra-
sive wear resulting ¡rom mechanical ap-
plication of forcé to an abrasive partióle
is hardness of abraded surface. I f qt is
the time ra te of wear, then qt = qv, where
v is velocity of sliding. Figure 7 is an
idealized representation of this type of
wear.
Equation 5 assumes that the abrasive
partióles are harder than the surface
being abraded and that the abrasive par-
tióle is rigid (not crushed). Equation 5 is
valid for abrasive-particle size, D ,
greater than 70 microns. (For D less than
70 microns, q also depends on D ; the re-
lationship between q and D is different,
however, because with fixed partióles
clogging oceurs and with loóse partióles
the wear fragments are about the same
size as the abrasive partióles.) The ratio
of abrasive partióles that cut to those that
do not cut, and partióle shape, are
important.
Equation 5 applies to annealed metáis.
The wear resistance (1/q) of hardened
steels is a function of their elastic limit,
as well as of their hardness. However, in
this instance, the wear resistance varíes
as low fractional powers of these pa-
rameters. Fatigue of the surface may also
be of importance. For brittle materials,
higher wear ra tes can oceur because of
the possibility of the formation of wear
fragments having a total volume greater
than the volume swept through by the
abrasive particle (Ref 5 and 8 ) . How-
ever, brittle materials do generally follow
the relationship of Eq 5 even though
higher wear rates are encountered
(Ref 13).
The presence of water vapor in the
atmosphere, or the presence of a lubri-
cating fluid on the abraded surface, can
increase the wear rate, apparently by
flushing wear debris from the system and
thereby increasing the effectiveness of
the abrading action. Rabincwicz (Ref 14)
discusses this effect, together with some
of the other limitations of Eq 5 men-
tioned above.
Equation 5 is not necessarily valid
for grinding abrasión — that is, when
;mall abrasive partióles are being
crushed. A theoretica 1 expression for the
wear rate in grinding abrasión is not
presently available. Grinding abrasión is
common in ball and rod milling.
Wear Failures
EZ-3 Metal removed
oy a o r a s i v e partióle (G)
Abraded
s u r f o c e (p )•
Fig. 8. Ideali~ed representation
sive wear resulting from kinetic
tion of forcé to an abrasive
I n ball milling, the abrasive is caught
between adjacent balls or between ball
and liner, and the ball weight crushes the
hard partióles (Ref 1). Although impact
may oceur i n ball milis, it is not the im-
portant crushing forcé iRef 1). Grinding
can be produced without impact. I n fact,
the most efficient ball milis are those that
only roll and tumble the balls. Because
the abrasive may have little opportunity
to cut before i t is crushed, the abraded
surfaces are subjected merely to repeti-
tive concentrated compressive stress
over a period of time. The abraded
surface therefore is subjected to attack
similar to that resulting from sand blast-
ing with the blast directed perpendicular
to the surface. This is substantiated by
the fact that there seems to be a correla-
tion between results of sand-blasting
wear tests and results of ball-mill wear
tests.
Bitter (Ref 15 and 16) indicates that
no cutting wear should oceur during sand
blasting at a 90° impingement angle and
that frequent renetition of elastic impact
should not cause wear, apart from pos-
sible fatigue damage. If, however, during
colusión, the elastic limit is exceeded,
plástic deformation oceurs at the point
of máximum stress; the repeated colli-
sions of a large number of partióles w i l l
form a plastically deformed surface layer.
The resulting deformation hardening
increases the elastic • limit, and, upon
further plástic deformation, this limit
will eventually become equal to the
máximum strength of the material. The
material has then become relatively hard
and brittle and can no longer be plasti-
cally deformed. If, subsequently, upon
increasing the load, the elastic limit of
the material is exceeded, the surface is
destroyed and fragments of it are re-
moved. Therefore, an initially ductile
material will wear i n a manner similar to
abrasive wear of brittle materials. Bitter
refers to this type of wear as ' 'deforma-
tion wear". Equation 7, further on in this
section, gives the expression for volume
worn by this mechanism in brittle ma-
terials. Equation 7 and Bitter's wcrk
apply to impact between the abrasive and
the surface; however, ball milling i n -
volves no impact. Therefore. Eq 7 does
not apply to grinding abrasión, but i t
seems feasible that the fundamental
abrasión mechanism for this type of wear
could very well be a "deformation wear"
mechanism. This would be a good start-
ing point in developing a theory for
grinding abrasión.
Theory of Abrasive Wear With Kinetic
Application of Forcé to Abrasive Parti-
óles (Erosión). I n abrasive wear i n which
kinetic forcé is applied to the abrasive
of abra- particle (erosión), the kinetic energy of
applica- the particle is dissipated on a ductile
particle
surface in plástic work, which causes in-
dentation or shearing of the surface.
When partióles merely indent the sur-
face, layerlike exfoliations are extruded
from the surface (Ref 17). However,
when shearing takes place, material is
gouged out of the surface. On brittle ma-
terials, the kinetic energy of the particle
is dissipated in crack propagation, which
causes chipping of the surface.
The volume. O, removed from a ductile
surface due to a mass, m, of angular abra-
sive partióles having a velocity, u, is
given by Eq 6 (Ref 18,19 and 20):
Q S mv /8p
2 X f{a) (Eq 6)
where v is velocity of particle approach;
p is hardness of abraded surface; and
f(a) is (sin 2a - 3sin a) for a < 18.5°,
2
and is cos a/3 for a > 18.5 (a is angle
2 5
of particle impingement, measured rela-
tive to the abraded surface).
I f m is expressed as the mass imping-
ing on a surface per unit of time, thereby
establishing a time rate, Q becomes qt —
that is, the time rate of wear. Figure 8 is
an idealized representation of this type
of wear. A more recent treatment for this
type of wear takes into account the elastic
properties of the abrasive particles and
the abraded surface (Ref 15).
The volume, Q, removed from a
brittle surface under similar impact con»
ditions, but not necessarily restricted to
angular particles, is given by Eq 7
(Ref 16):
m(v sino: — K)
Q =c (Eq7)
where K is velocity of impact at which
the elastic limit is just reached, and e is
energy needed to remove^one unit volume
of material from the surface. Valúes
for K and e in Eq 7 are:
K ce P^i(l/D)V:[{l- ai)/E\
+ (1-M2)/J?2] (EqTa)
2
e ce Pe-fE-i (Eq 7b)
where Pe is elastic limit, ¡ i is Poisson's
ratio, E is modulus of elasticity, D is
size of abrasive particles, and subscripts
1 and 2 refer to the particle and the sur-
face, respectively.
Equation 7 assumes that the particle
penetrates into the surface to a depth

( a ) S h a f T at resr
Fig. 9. Step-by-step development of a hydrodynamic
only a fraction of its own diameter. For
sharp-edged partióles, the resulting K
valué will be smaller. A t high velocities,
large fragments may be broken from the
surface, resulting i n a lower valué of e.
Equation 6 predicts reasonably well
the trends for silicon carbide abrasives
on 1020 steel and for silica dust on 1050
steel. However, i t underestimates Q at
high a angles (Ref 18, 19 and 20); this
error has been found to be due to the lack
of accounting for the elastic properties
of the abrasive partióles and the abraded
surface (Ref 15). The erosión of glass by
steel shot is i n good agreement with Eq 7
(Ref 16). These expressions do not take
into account fatiguing of the surface,
•h may be of importance.
Lubricated Wear
One important means of reducing
wear is lubrication. Lubrication not only
reduces power consumption needed to
overeóme friction but also proteets roll-
ing and sliding contact surfaces from
excessive wear. Even with lubrication,
however, wear still oceurs.
On lubricated surfaces, the wear
process is mild and generates fine debris
of a particle size as small as one or two
microns. Abrasive wear predominates
under lubricated conditions. Electron-
microscope examination of worn surfaces
from lubricated assemblies usually re-
veáis a multitude of fine scratches ori-
ented i n the direction of relative motion.
The fine debris that is generated by
abrasión becomes suspended in the oil
or grease. I n devices using circulating-
oil lubrication, advantage has been taken
of the fact that wear debris can be
anaiyzed by spectroscopy, ano that de-
terioraron of the device by wear can be
diagnosed from these results. This tech-
nique is used to monitor the condition of
vital components i n aircraft and loco-
ive engines.
Modes of Lubrication
There are se ve ral basic modes of l u -
brication. I n all modes, contact surfaces
are separated by a lubricating médium,
which may be a solid. a semisolid or a
pressurized liquid or gaseous film. Hy-
Wear Failures
- - B e a r i n g 10
(b) S h a f t s r o r t m g to r o t a t e ( c ) Shaft accelerating í o n o r m a l speed
lubricating film in a unidirectionally
drodynamic lubrication is a system i n
which the shape and relative motion of
the sliding surfaces cause the formation
of a fluid film having sufficient pressure
to sepárate the surfaces. Hydrostatic
lubrication is a system i n which the l u -
bricant is supplied under sufficient
external pressure to sepárate the oppos-
ing surfaces by a fluid film. Elastohydro-
dynamic lubrication is a system i n which
the friction and film thickness between
the two bodies i n relative motion are
determined by the elastic properties of
the bodies, i n combination with the
viscous properties of the lubricant at the
prevailing pressure, tempera ture and rate
of shear. Dry-film (solid-film) lubrication
is a system in which a coating of solid
lubricant separates the opposing surfaces
and the lubricant itself wears away.
Boundary lubrication and thin-film lu-
brication are two modes i n which friction
and wear are affected by properties of the
contacting surfaces as well as by prop-
erties of the lubricant. I n boundary
lubrication, each surface is covered by a
chemically bonded fluid or semisolid
film, which may or may not serve to sep-
árate opposing surfaces, and viscosity of
the lubricant is not a factor affecting
friction and wear. I n thin-film lubrica-
tion. the lubricant usually is not bonded
to the surfaces, it does sepárate oppos-
ing surfaces, and lubricant viscosity
affeets friction and wear.
Mechanical devices often opérate
under several lubrication modes simul-
taneously or alternately. For instance,
when a hydrodynamic journal bearing
starts turning from rest, it opera tes under
boundary lubrication ~and then thin-film
lubrication for a short time until it lifts
up on 2 stable, thick oil film and the solid
surfaces sepárate. During the initial
boundary-lubricated conditions, wear oc-
eurs. The process is reversed when rota-
tion is slowed or stopped. On the other
hand, gears experience both elastohydro-
dynamic and boundary lubrication at the
same time. For example, during meshing
of one tooth of a spur gear with a tooth
of a mating gear, initial contact is sliding
contact, which results i n wear and
scufimg at the tips and roots of the teeth.
Contact along the pitch line, however, is
141
( d ) S h a f t rofating at n o r m a i s p e e d
loaded journal bearing. See text.
essentially rolling contact, and elastohy-
drodynamic conditions prevail. Pitch-
line damage takes the form of pitting or
spalling and is similar to rolling-contact
fatigue found i n ball and roller bearings.
Hydrodynamic Lubrication. The step-
by-step development of a hydrodynamic
fluid film is illustrated i n Fig. 9 for a full
journal bearing under unidirectional
loading. I n Fig. 9(a), the machine is at
rest. The oil supply is shut off, and most
of the oil has leaked from the normally
full clearanee space (greatly exaggerated
i n the illustration). The remaining film
on the bearing and journal surfaces is
extremely thin, and there is probably
some metal-to-metal contact between
asperities on the mating surfaces at the
bottom where the journal surface rests on
the bearing.
I n Fig. 9(b), the machine has been
started and the shaft has begun to ro-
tate. The oil supply has been turned on,
and oil has filled the clearance space. A t
the start, friction is momentarily high,
and the shaft tends to climb up the side
of the bearing i n a direction opposite to
the direction of rotation. As i t does so, i t
rolls onto a thicker oil film, friction is re-
duced, and the tendeney to climb is
balanced by a tendeney to slip back on
the thicker oil film.
As the journal gains speed (see Fig.
9c), oil is drawn into the wedge-shaped
clearance space at the lower left. A fluid
pressure is develo ped in this región of the
film, which pushes the journal to the
right and lifts i t .
Finally, at full speed, the journal is
supported on a thick film and assumes
the position shown i n Fig. 9(d) — on
the opposite side of the bearing from the
position at start-up (compare with Fig.
9b). The converging wedge-shaped oii
film has moved to a position under the
journal, and the point of nearest ap-
proach of the journal and bearing (that
is, the point of mínimum film thickness)
is slightly to the right of a vertical line
through the center of the bearing.
Fluid dynamics can be .used to define
and predict load capacity, friction and
heat generation in a fluid film when
hydrodynamic lubrication, hydrostatic
lubrication, or elastohydrodynamic lu-
 142
b r i c a t i o n prevails. T h e viscosity o f the
l u b r i c a n t is imporíant i n d e t e r m i n i n g
o p e r a t i n g charaoteristics and whether o r
not wear can be a n t i c i p a t e d . T h e pres-
sure generated i n t h e l i q u i d - l u b r i c a n t
film b y the shearing process supports the
load a n d keeps t h e solid surfaces sepa-
rated. A s the load increases. film tempera-
ture increases, shear rate decreases, fiim
thickness diminishes, a n d the solid sur-
faces a p p r o a c h each other. W h e n t h e
thickness of t h e l u b r i c a n t film a p -
proaches t h e dimensions of surface
roughness, asperity contact begins a n d
evidence o f wear can be detected. F o r
h y d r o d y n a m i c conditions, the film t h i c k -
ness, t, o r closest approach of the bearing
surfaces, depends o n this r e l a t i o n s h i p :
( E q 8)
where ¡j. is b u l k viscosity of the l u b r i c a n t
at bearing temperature, v is s l i d i n g ve-
l o c i t y , a n d W is bearing load. A j o u r n a l
b e a r i n g o p e r a t i n g under h y d r o d y n a m i c
c o n d i t i o n s is somewhat self-regulating.
T h a t is, w i t h a n established t h i c k l u b r i -
c a t i n g film, a n increase i n velocity w i l l
increase the shear rate of the o i l film, a n d
the r e s u l t i n g increase i n energy i n p u t w i l l
increase the o i l - f i l m temperature, result-
i n g i n a decrease i n viscosity. I n t u r n , the
decrease i n viscosity w i l l d i m i n i s h t h e
effect o f t h e v e l o c i t y increase o n film
thickness. I n a d d i t i o n , w h e n the correct
bearing materials are selected, a wear-in
process w i l l decrease the peaks of the sur-
face asperities a n d a l l o w operation on a
t h i n n e r a n d t h i n n e r film w i t h o u t metal-
t o - m e t a l c o n t a c t a n d wear as the bearing
continúes t o opérate. M a n y s l i d i n g sur-
faces i n m a c h i n e r y do n o t benefit f r o m
this seemingly self-regulating, i n f i n i t e -
life l u b r i c a t i o n system. Because of mis-
alignment, vibration, limited lubricant
s u p p l y , a n d repeated start-stop opera-
t i o n , m a n y bearings c o n t i n u a l l y opérate
i n t h e b o u n d a r y regime where asperity
contact a n d wear occur.
Hydrostatic lubrication, often used i n
high-speed precisión bearings, is s i m i l a r
to t h e t h i c k - f i l m stage of h y d r o d y n a m i c
l u b r i c a t i o n i n t h a t opposing surfaces
slide o n a r e l a t i v e l y t h i c k film of l u b r i -
cant. H o w e v e r , i n h y d r o s t a t i c lubrica-
t i o n , the film is m a i n t a i n e d b y fluid pres-
sure f r o m a n external source a n d b y
a fixed o r c o n t r o l l e d rate of leakage f r o m
between t h e surfaces. Because most h y -
drostatic bearings a r e designed to have
fluid-pressure peaks e q u a l i y spaced
a r o u n d the bearing surface. the shaft is
positioned more n e a r l y i n the center of
the b e a r i n g t h a n i n h y d r o d y n a m i c l u b r i -
cation, a n d film thickness is about the
same f o r a n y t w o p o i n t s a r o u n d the
bearing. O n e of t h e m a i n advantages of
h y d r o s t a t i c l u b r i c a t i o n over h y d r o d y -
n a m i c l u b r i c a t i o n is t h a t . w i t h h y d r o -
static l u b r i c a t i o n , the shaft is supported
W e a r Failures
b y a f u l l o i l film a t a n y speed. T h u s t h i n -
film and b o u n d a r y l u b r i c a t i o n o n start-
u p a n d s h u t d o w n , w i t h t h e attendant
increased f r i c t i o n and wear, are avoided.
I n a d d i t i o n , t h i c k - f i l m l u b r i c a t i o n can be
m a i n t a i n e d w i t h low-viscosity lubricants
t h a t i n a h y d r o d y n a m i c bearing w o u l d
not be able t o develop enough film pres-
sure to s u p p o r t the shaft load.
Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication. U n -
der elastohydrodynamic rolling-contact
conditions, t y p i c a l of b a l l a n d roller bear-
ings, mínimum l u b r i c a n t - f i l m thickness.
ímin, follows a p p r o x i m a t e l y t h e relation-
ship expressed i n :
ímin ~ (na)0?(N ?/W> >»)
n (
where fj, is b u l k viscosity o f l u b r i c a n t
at bearing temperature, a is coefficient of
viscosity increase w i t h pressure, N is
r o t a t i o n a l speed, and W is bearing load.
U n d e r rolling-contact conditions, film
thickness is not as sensitive to load as i t
is to r o t a t i o n a l speed. A n increase i n
load produces a n increase i n elastic de-
flection i n the contact área a n d dis-
tributes the contact pressure over a larger
área. Because r o l l i n g contact involves
i n i t i a l line, o r p o i n t , contact, v e r y large
localized contact stress results, neces-
s i t a t i n g the use of h i g h - y i e l d - s t r e n g t h
bearing materials (heat treated bearing
steels). T h e extremely t h i n l u b r i c a n t
films i n v o l v e d (as small as ten m i l l i o n t h s
of an i n c h ) also require v e r y smooth
surface finishes to ensure true elastohy-
d r o d y n a m i c l u b r i c a t i o n . Nevertheless,
wear does occur i n ball a n d roller
bearings.
Rolling-contact wear can be very i n -
sidious, progressing w i t h a n i m p r o v e -
m e n t i n surface finish and w i t h n o loss i n
sphericity, but w i t h sufficient loss of ma-
terial to cause loss of vital p r e l o a d , such
as can occur i n m i n i a t u r e precisión
bearings. S p a l l i n g o r p i t t i n g is another,
more d r a m a t i c type of " w e a r " t h a t can
occur i n rolling-contact applications.
T h i s is a self-aggravating type of surface
damage t h a t causes performance o f r o l l -
ing-element bearings to become increas-
i n g l y rough a n d t h a t u l t i m a t e l y m a y
result i n fracture of r o l l i n g elements. I n
recent studies of the role of l u b r i c a t i o n
i n d e t e r m i n i n g life of ball a n d roller
bearings, i t has been found t h a t the r a t i o
of m i n i m u m film thickness to combined
surface roughness of two o p p o s i n g sur-
faces provides a f a i r l y good i n d i c a t o r of
useful life. T h e greater the incidence of
asperity contact through the l u b r i c a n t
film, the sooner the onset of s p a l l i n g .
Boundary lubrication occurs i n a large
number of mechanical devices, because
the conditions required for f u l l - f i l m l u -
b r i c a t i o n (or even t h i n - f i l m l u b r i c a t i o n )
using a fluid substance often cannot be surface ridges resulting f r o m the abra-
attained w i t h o u t u t i l i z i n g a complex and
expensive l u b r i c a t i o n system. F o r i n - i n g wheel come i n t o contact w i t h the
stance, a grease-lubrica ted bearing sub-
jected to i n t e r m i t t e n t oscillating m o t i o i
under heavy ioad opera tes almost exclu
sively under boundary lubrication
U n d e r these conditions, h i g h points o;
asperities on surfaces come i n t o contact
but bonding is prevented b y very t h i n
soft, solid films. These films shear easih
and prevent metal removal or heav\
scoring of the surfaces.
B o u n d a r y films have a w i d e v a r i e t y ol
forms a n d compositions. Experimente
have shown that a single monolayer ol
stearic acid w i l l lubrica te a n d prevenl
asperity adhesión. Under practical oper-
a t i n g conditions, however, the boundarv
films active i n machinery are complex
(Eq9)
reaction producís of the l u b r i c a n t , the
atmosphere, and the constituents i n the
bearing surface. A l t h o u g h f u l l - f i l m con-
d i t i o n s of l u b r i c a t i o n do n o t exist, w i t h
the a d d i t i o n of lubricant the wear rate of
contacting surfaces can be reduced to as
l i t t l e as 5 ' of the rate for nonlubricated
c t
wear.
Surface temperature probably has the
greatest influence on the erTectiveness of
boundary l u b r i c a t i o n . F r i c t i o n a l energy
produces heat o n s l i d i n g surfaces. W i t h
b o u n d a r y l u b r i c a t i o n , generally there is
not sufficient lubricant flow to carry away
the heat. compared w i t h h y d r o d y n a m i c
l u b r i c a t i o n , w h i c h is quite effective i n
r e m o v i n g f r i c t i o n a l heat. T h e r e are sev-
eral possible consequences of f r i c t i o n a l
heating d u r i n g boundary l u b r i c a t i o n .
U n d e r extreme-pressure í ' E P ) lubrica-
t i o n , chemical additives i n t h e l u b r i c a n t
react w i t h metal surfaces t o f o r m soft,
solid reaction producís, w h i c h presum-
a b l y a r e the agents that prevent metal
adhesión and surface damage. H e a t i n -
creases the reaction rate so t h a t a t
asperity contaets, where the local "flash"'
surface temperatures are highest, the
reaction rate is greatest and a solid l u -
b r i c a n t is provided i n t h e spots where
the p o t e n t i a l for adhesión is greatest.
T h u s , b y chemical attack m o d i f i e d b y
the localized surface temperature, the
oceurrence of severe wear is prevented b y
s u b s t i t u t i o n of m i l d corrosión.
Effect on Surface Features
T h e features o n a surface that has
been w o r n under lubricated conditions
are different f r o m those f o u n d o n a sur-
face t h a t has undergone nonlubricated
wear. E x a m i n a t i o n of s l i d i n g surfaces b y
high-magnification electrón microscopy
reveáis that, when a lubricant is present,
wear occurs b y deformation of the h i g h -
est surface asperities rather t h a n b y
galling a n d tearing, which predominate
w i t h nonlubricated wear. F o r example.
when a g r o u n d surface is subjected to
m i l d lubricated wear, the microscopic
sive action of h a r d particles i n the g r i n d -
opposing surface a n d flatten o u t . T h e

highesl ridges come i n t o contact first and
are subjected to large contact stresses,
w h i c h cause plástic flow. W h e n the
tops of the ridges d e f o r m , the y often de-
velop t h i n tongues of e x t r u d e d m e t a l that
subsequently break off, f o r m i n g very
fine particles of wear debris. I n t h i s way,
t h e surface is g r a d u a l l y leveled or
smoothed o u t as more a n d more ridges
come i n t o contact.
O n polished or l a p p e d surfaces, l u b r i -
cated wear produces a n e x t r e m e l y fine
p a t t e r n of microscratches t h a t often are
i n v i s i b l e except b y electrón microscopy.
E x a m i n a t i o n of these microscratches re-
veáis t h a t t h e y are caused b y plástic de-
f o r m a r o n and n o t b y p l o w i n g or micro-
r n a c h i n i n g . T h e d e f o r m a t i o n appears to
be the result of contact b y h a r d asperities
i n the m a t i n g surface, or b y fine debris.
Each scratch u s u a l l y is a shallow t r o u g h
w i t h a ñat b o t t o m and steep sides. T h e
ridges produced b y t h i s scratching
process are w o r n , w h i c h produces fine
debris m u c h i n the same w a y as wear
debris is generated f r o m g r o u n d surfaces.
F o r a d d i t i o n a l i n f o r m a t i o n on l u b r i -
cated wear, i n c l u d i n g examples of l u -
bricated wear i n service, the reader is
referred to the f o l l o w i n g articles i n this
v o l u m e : F a i l u r e s of S l i d i n g Bearings
(page 397), F a i l u r e s of Rolling-Elemení
Bearings (page 416), Failures of M e c h a n -
i c a l Face Seáis (page 437), and Failures
of Gears (page 507).
Lubricants
A l m o s t a n y surface film can act as a
l u b r i c a n t , p r e v e n t i n g cold w e l d i n g of
asperities o n opposing surfaces or a l l o w -
i n g opposing surfaces to sude across one
a;iother a t a lower f r i c t i o n a l forcé t h a n
w o u l d p r e v a i l i f the film were not present.
L u b r i c a n t s m a y be either l i q u i d or solid.
( O n some occasions, gas films m a y act as
l u b r i c a n t s . ) One of the functions of a l u -
b r i c a n t is to c a r r y a w a y heat generated
b y t w o surfaces s l i d i n g u n d e r contact
pressure. L i q u i d l u b r i c a n t s can dissipate
heat better t h a n solid or s e m i f l u i d l u b r i -
cants, b u t i n a l l types the shear p r o p -
erties of the l u b r i c a n t are c r i t i c a l to its
performance.
Properties of Lubricants. L i q u i d l u b r i -
cants m a i n t a i n separation of opposing
surfaces b y pressure w i t h i n the film,
w h i c h opposes the contact forcé. T h i s
pressure m a y be generated w i t h i n the
film, u s u a l l y as a result of the shape of
the opposing surfaces, or the l i q u i d m a y
be forced between the opposing surfaces
b y pressure f r o m a n e x t e r n a l source. Re-
gardless of t h e means of creating pres-
t e w i t h i n the film, the opposing sur-
jes slide o n a p a d of l i q u i d . F r i c t i o n
á n d wear are d i r e c t l y influenced by the
thickness and shear properties (viscosity)
of the l i q u i d . W h e r e a p p r o p r i a i e . the use
of a h i g h - v i s c o s i t y l u b r i c a n t u s u a l l y re-
W e a r Failures
Fu l-film lubricotion
Fie. 10 Schematic illustration of the relation of surface roughness to film
under conditions of full-film, thin-ñlm and boundary lubrication
sults i n a r e l a t i v e l y t h i c k film and a low
wear rate. However, h i g h s l i d i n g speeds
cannot be accommodated b y a viscous
film, because excessive heat generated
w i t h i n the film causes i t to become less
viscous and to chemically decompose.
F u l l - f i l m ( t h i c k - f i l m ) l u b r i c a t i o n , such
as occurs under hydrostatic or h y d r o d y -
namic conditions, effectively separates
asperities on opposing surfaces, whereas
t h i n - f i l m and boundary l u b r i c a t i o n a l l o w
asperity contact. T h e differences a m o n g
these three conditions of l i q u i d l u b r i c a -
t i o n are illustrated schematically i n
F i g . 10.
Some special types of boundary l u -
bricants, most n o t a b l y the extreme-pres-
sure ( E P ) lubricants, react w i t h a
m e t a l l i c surface. often a t h i g h tempera-
tures, to produce a monomolecular film
on the surface. T h i s very t h i n film " c o n -
t a m i n a t e s " the m a t i n g surfaces and pre-
venís m e t a l - t o - m e t a l contact or adhesión.
Extreme-pressure lubricants often con-
t a i n extremely reactive constituents t h a t
re-form the film i n s t a n t l y if i t is scraped
off one of the surfaces. F i l m f o r m a t i o n
of this type is, i n effect, corrosión; w h e n
i t is u n c o n l r o l l e d , or when the film is re-
peatedly scraped off and re-formed, de-
teriora t i o n of the surface can result.
S o l i d - f i l m lubricants must be adherent
to be effective; otherwise, they a l l o w
metal-to-metal contact or introduce u n -
wanted particles that roll and slide
w i t h i n the j o i n t . W h e n they can be k e p t
w i t h i n the j o i n t , graphite and m o l y b -
d e n u m disulfide make good l u b r i c a n t s
because they shear easily i n c e r t a i n
D!P£:T:0NS OF SL'3 * G
Fig. 11. Schematic illustration of the
polar honding and orientation of straight-
chain fatty-acid molecules in a boundary.
lubricant between sliding surfaces
143
- ":u:d film /- Boundary
Thin-film lubrication Boundary lubrication
thickness
crystallographic directions. H a r d , a d -
herent oxide films, such as Fes04 o n
steel or anodized AI2O3 on a l u m i n u m ,
w i t h s t a n d wear because they resist pene-
t r a t i o n and do not bond w i t h most m a t i n g
surfaces.
Lubricating oils are r e l a t i v e l y free-
flowing organic substances t h a t are used
to lower the coefficient of f r i c t i o n i n me-
chanical devices. T h e y are available i n a
broad range of viscosities, and m a n y are
blended or c o n t a i n additives to make
t h e m suitable for specific uses. I n gen-
eral, l u b r i c a t i n g substances t h a t are fluid
at 20 C (68 F ) are t e r m e d oils: l u b r i c a t i n g
substances t h a t are solid or semifluid a t
20 C are termed greases or fats.
Oils are derived f r o m petroleum (min-
eral oils) or f r o m plañís or animáis
(fixed oils). M i n e r a l oils are classified ac-
c o r d i n g ío source ( t y p e of crude), refining
process ( d i s t i i l a l e or residual), a n d com-
mercial use. T h e commercial m i n e r a l - o i l -
base producís consisí m a i n l y of saturaied
hydrocarbons (even t h o u g h naphíhene-
base crudes are predominaníly u n s a t u -
raíed) i n íhe f o r m of c h a i n or r i n g mole-
cules íhaí are c h e m i c a l l y inacli'-'e and
do n o t have polar heads. These com-
m e r c i a l producís m a y or m a y not con-
t a i n waxes, volatile compounds, fixed
oils, and special-purpose additives. F i x e d
oils and fats differ f r o m m i n e r a l oils i n
íhaí they (a) consisí of a n alcohol r a d i c a l
and a faííy-acid radical, (b) can be re-
acíed wiíh an a l k a l i (sodium h y d r o x i d e
or poíassium h y d r o x i d e , for example) ío
f r o m g l y c e r i n and soap. (c) cannoí be
disíilled wifhouí decomposing, and (d)
c o n t a i n 9 ío 1 2 . 5 ^ oxygen. A l l fixed oils
are insoluble i n waíer and, excepí for
casíor o i l , are insoluble i n alcohol a i
room íemperaíure.
F i x e d oils generally are considered ío
have greaíer " o i l i n e s s " íhan m i n e r a l oils.
Oiliness is a íerm íhaí describes íhe rela-
íive abiliíy of a n y l u b r i c a n ! ío ací as a
boundary lubricanl. Eleclron-diffraclion
experimenis have shown íhaí molecules
of íhe effecíive lubricaíing agenl — a
long-chain faíiy acid of h i g h molecular
weighí, such as síearic acid or oleic acid
— are aííached ío a m e f a l l i c surface b y
polar b o n d i n g and síand u p m u c h l i k e
i n d i v i d u a l slrands i n a pile carpet. as
i l l u s t r a t e d i n F i g . 11. T h i s results i n a
 144
Fig. 12. Scanning electrón micrographs showing the fibrous appearance of soap partióles
in a lithium-base grease at magnifications of (a) 15,000* and (b) 24,000*
surface layer w i t h h i g h adhesión, high
resistance to contact stress, and low re-
sistance to lateral shear along the surface.
Lubricating grease, as defined by
A S T M , is a solid to semifluid product
consisting of a dispersión of a thickening
agent i n a l i q u i d lubricant. I n more prac-
tical terms, most greases are stabilized
mixtures of m i n e r a l o i l and m e t a l l i c soap.
T h e soap is usually a calcium, sodium or
l i t h i u m compound and is present i n the
form bf fibers (see F i g . 12) whose size and
c o n f i g u r a r o n are characteristic of the
metallic radicai i n the soap compound.
Solid lubricants, w h i c h are solids w i t h
l u b r i c a t i n g properties, can be m a i n -
tained between two m o v i n g surfaces to
reduce f r i c t i o n and wear. Numerous solid
inorganic and organic compounds, as
w e l l as certain metáis and composite
materials, m a y be ciassified as solid l u -
bricants. M o l y b d e n u m disulfide, graph-
ite a n d poiytetrafluoroethylene ( T F E )
are the solid lubricants most commonly
used. Several h u n d r e d different com-
Ojter r i n g - Inner ring
^ - S c n d e d films of
molybaenum disuifide,
'ai R o l l i n j - e l e m e n : beonng
Fig. 13. Bearing designs using three different types of solid lubrication
W e a r Failures
pounds and mixtures have been described
as potential solid lubricants.
Solid lubricants have been used as t h i n
films, s t r u c t u r a l sections of bearing as-
semblies. reinforced laminates, and i n -
serís. Figure 13 shows three bearing
designs u t i i i z i n g different means for solid
l u b r i c a t i o n : a rolling-element bearing
having films of solid l u b r i c a n t bonded to
the surfaces of the raceways and the re-
tainer ( F i g . 13a), a p l a i n spherical bear-
i n g h a v i n g a l i n e r of resin-bonded T F E
fibers between the spherical inner r i n g
and the outer r i n g ( F i g . 13b), and a
j o u r n a l bearing h a v i n g a spring-loaded
solid insert of m o l y b d e n u m disulfide i n
the housing to m a i n t a i n a supply of l u -
bricant to the shaft ( F i g . 13c).
A l t h o u g h solid lubricants m a y be ap-
plied to achieve design s i m p l i f i c a t i o n
or weight reduction, they usually are
adopted because of t h e i r good s t a b i l i t y
(a) a t eleva ted tempera tures, (b) i n
chemically active environments, a n d
(c) when exposed to nuclear r a d i a t i o n .
— Lmer of resin-bonded Adjusiment
polyretraf!joroethyiene screw-
(TFE! fibers
-Sphenca
-Outer ring '
N n n e r
nng
b) Sonencol Deorina (c) Journal bearing
Solid lubricants also provide certain ad-
vantages i n high-vacuum, aerospace or
cryogenic applications. where liquids
w o u l d evapórate or congeal.
Lubricant Failures
Leading to Wear
I n devices that depend on lubricants
to combat f r i c t i o n and avoid deteriora-
r o n b y wear, f a i l u r e of the l u b r i c a n t can
be disastrous. M o s t lubricant failures
occur b y (a) chemical decornposition,
(&) contamina t i o n , (c) changes i n prop-
erties caused b y excessive heat, or (d)
o u t r i g h t loss f r o m , or inadequate flow
of a pressurized fluid into, lubricated
áreas. L u b r i c a t i n g oils and greases can
fail b y any one of the foregoing processes
alone. However, i n most situations, chem-
ical decornposition, contamination and
temperature are a l l involved and are
interrelated. For example, when o i l is
heated i n the presence of air, oxidation
occurs. O x i d a t i o n increases the viscosity
and organic-acid concentration of m i n -
eral oils, w i t h the result that varnish and
lacquer deposits m a y form on hot metal
surfaces. Under severe conditions, the
deposits m a y be converted to h a r d , car-
bonaceous substances. Fixed oils absorb
oxygen more readily than do mineral
oils, and some m a y d r y . thicken, and
form elastic solids. Certain fixed oils
(castor, olive, sperm and lard oils) oxi-
dize more slowly than others. These
fixed oils are more widely used i n blended
oils because of their n o n d r y i n g character-
istics. Temperature arrecís oxidation
rates; i n m i n e r a l and blended oils, for
example, the rate doubles w i t h each
10 C (18 F) rise i n temperature. Oxida-
tion rates also are higher when the o i l is
agitated or foams, or when catalysts such
as copper or acids are present.
I n general, solid-film lubricants fail by
mechanical removal of microscopically
t h i n layers. Wear debris, which consisís
prámarily of lubricant partióles, is gen-,
erated b y the s l i d i n g action of a sharp
edge against the bonded film on a contact
surface. T h e sharp edge shears a layer of
the film (and sometimes the entire film)
from the substrate. Contact between a
r o l l i n g element and a sharp ridge can
chip the film, which often initiates more
extensive failure. T h i s process eventually
results i n a lack of dynamic s t a b i l i t y (as
would result from excessive clearance i n
a bearing) or i n galling and seizing of
metallic contact surfaces.
M a n y bonded solid lubricants derive
their adhesión from binders, which are
incorporated i n t o the film i n quantities
up to about 2 0 % b y volume. Metals,
oxides, silicates, or other ceramics are the
most c o m m o n binders. When wear debris
contains binder partióles, i t abrades the
remaining film more r a p i d l y than when
i t consists solely of partióles of the l u b r i -
cating substance.

Pressurized lubricating systems in-
volving circulation of fluid lubricant are
susceptible to certain types of failure
that affect the ability of the system to
provide the required flow rate or pressure
at the point of lubricant injection. De-
composition of wax-containing mineral
oils or contamination of oil with certain
chemical substances can cause formation
of sludge, which may clog flow passages,
resulting in loss of flow or pressure, or
both. Severe agitation of the oil some-
timos resulte in entrapment of aír in the
form of tiny bubbles (foaming). The
presence of water, many additives, and
particulate foreign matter (debris) in
oils increases the likelihood of their
forming stable foams. Foaming causes
pump-inlet starvation, loss of circulation.
and sponginess in control systems, and
can cause an oil reservoir to overflow
because of the volumetric increase re-
sulting from air entrapment. Increases in
viscosity caused by oil decomposition
(oxidation, for example) or by excessive
cooling of the oil fed to the pump can
cause reduced flow of the circulating oil
and starvation of bearing surfaces. A
decrease in viscosity because of exces-
sively high operating temperatures can
cause a reduction in film thickness in a
hydrostatic or hydrodynamic bearing,
resulting in increased wear or seizure.
Contamination of the lubricant with
water or reactive chemical substances can
lead to lubricant decomposition or corro-
sión of contact surfaces, or both. Contam-
ination with abrasive substances or
debris can cause abrasive wear, espe-
cially when the size of the contaminant
particles is about the same as the thick-
ness of the lubricating film.
I n internal-combustion engir.es. water,
halicle acids, sulfur acids, and producís
of partial combustión of fuel hydrocar-
bons are picked up by the lubricating
oil. These contaminante can cause a wide
variety of undesirable chemical reactions
with oil and metallic surfaces, resulting
in the formation of varnish deposite,
sludges or viscous emulsions in the oil. or
in corrosive wear of engine components.
Because of their chemical nature, fixed
oils are particularly susceptible to chemi-
cal altera tion by alkalis. Alkalis cause
saponificaron (formation of soap) by
direct chemical reaction with the fatty
acids in fixed oils. This reaction alters
the nature of the lubricant an<3, conse-
quently, ite lubricating properties.
Viscosity of mineral oils, fixed oils,
and greases is affected by both tempera-
ture and pressure. A n increase in pres-
sure causes an increase in viscosity,
although the effect ¡a generally not sig-
lificant except at very high pressures.
/onversely, any change in temperature
has a very significant effect on viscosity.
Decreasing the temperature of mineral
oil from 100 C (212 F) to 0 C (32 F) can
145
increase viscosity by 100 times or more, Oil additives may serve to improve one
making the oil much less free-flowing. or more of the properties of the base oil,
The viscosity of fixed oils is affected to to impart to it entirely new performance
a lesser degree by temperature; for ex- characteristics, or to reduce the rate at
ample, the viscosity of lard oil is in- which undesirable changes in the oil iake
creased by only about 30 times when the place during service. Some of the more
temperature is decreased from 100 C common additives include:
(212 F) toO C (32 F).
1 Viscosity-Index Improvers. These sub-
Greases that are solid or semisolid at stances decrease the effect that tem-
room temperature gradually soften with perature has on viscosity, making the
increasing temperature and can become oil more viscous at high temperature
fluid and free-flowing at operating tem- e than it would be without the additive.
peratures.from 95 to 205 C (200 tp 400 F), 2 Pour-Point Depressants. These sub--
depending on the type of grease. Every stances make a wax-containing oil less
grease has a "dropping point", defined as viscous at low temperatures by i n -
the temperature at which the first drop of hibiting the growth and coalescence of
wax crystals suspended in the oil.
liquid grease falls in a standard test. This
3 Defoamants. These additives promote
temperature is the lower boundary of the the coalescence of tiny entrapped air
melting range of the grease. bubbles into larger bubbles, which can
Oils containing substantial quantities rise to the surface and collapse.
of volatile compounds may lose these 4 Wetting Agenís and Emulsifiers. These
components by evaporation when oper- additives enable the oil either to dis-
ating temperatures are too high. This place water from metal surfaces or to
process not only alters the viscosity, but absorb the water as a stable emulsión,
also upsets the chemical nature of the oil, | thus promoting oil-film formation on a
metal surface.
thus changing other properties. I n some
5 Oxidation Inhibitors. These combat oxi-
instances. volatilization can take place dation of the oil itself either by inter-
within the lubricating film — for ex- rupting the chain of chemical reactions
ample. when frictional heat is ineffec- leading to deterioration or by deacti-
tively removed by the circulating fluid. vating catalytic metallic surfaces.
Bubble formation within the film reduces 6 Detergents and Dispersante. Widely
the load-carrying capacity of the film, used in lubricante for internal-com-
leading to adhesive or abrasive wear or, bustion engines, these additives com-
in severe cases, cavitation-erosion of op- bat the formation of sludge and
posing surfaces. varnish.
7 Corrosión Inhibitors. Additives in this
Transition Temperature. When bound- classification are used to reduce or pre-
ary lubrication is provided by soft, vent corrosión of lubricated surfaces by
metallic soaps (iron stearate, for ex- contaminante i n the oil such as oxygen,
ample), a rise in surface temperature can water, acids and combustión producís.
result in a marked increase in the coeffi- 8 Lubrication-Property Improvers. This
cient of friction and a sudden change in category includes a variety of additives
wear rate from mild to severe. The tem- that are intended to reduce friction
perature at which this change occurs (especially under boundary lubrica-
tion;, speed up a "wearing i n " process,
(transition temperature) is the point at enhance film strength, or provide lu-
which the soap desorbs from the metal brication under high contact pressures.
surface and no longer provides a bonded,
continuous surface film. Transition tem- Mechanical Design. Certain types of
peratures generally are within the range lubricant failure can be prevented by
of 120 to 205 C (250 to 400 F), depending changes in the design of the device itself
on the lubricant and the chemical com- or in the design of the lubricating system.
position of the metal substrate. Extreme- Starvation of a bearing caused by inade-
pressure (EP) lubricante function by re- quate lubricant flow or by clogging of
action with the metal surface rather than oil passages sometimes can be corrected
by adsorption of components in the lubri- by increasing the size of the passages.
cant, and often are used as substi tutes for Often, an increase or decrease in clear-
soap-type boundary lubricante when ance between sliding surfaces will enable
operating temperatures exceed the tran- the lubricant to function more effec-
sition temperature. tively. Shields, covers and seáis some-
times can be used to prevent lubricant
Prevention of Lubricant Failures contamination from external sources. I n
Often, lubricant failure can be traced other instances, filtration or absorption
to the selection of an inappropriate lubri- devices can be incorporated into the sys-
cant. Petroleum lubricating oils are tem to remove unwanted contaminante.
available in a wide variety of formula-
tions, with an equally wide variety of Nonlubricated Wear
special properties. When these properties
cannot be obtained by conventional re- Metal adhesión and cold welding
fining techniques, or are obtainable only characterizé the process of wear in the
at a very high cost by refining, they are absence of a lubricant. The conditions of
imparted to the lubricant by additives. nonlubricated wear are diíficult to define
 146
h^cause. i n rnost practica! situations.
there is some k i n d of "lubricante! on any
s l i d i n g or roíling surfaces. I n addition to
the n a t u r a ! l y occurring oxide on rnost
metáis, the atmosphere and its industrial
contaminante provide a wide variety of
adsorbing organic and inorganlc mole-
cules. These surface contaminants pro-
tect c o n t a c t i n g surfaces i n m u c h the same
vvay as b o u n d a r y lubricants do, i n thaí
they prevent intímate contact between
c h e m i c a l l y active metal surfaces. Only
when m e t a l surfaces are kept i n an
u i t r a h i g h - v a c u u m environment and are
cieaned b y an electrón beam or an elec-
t r i c are are they t r u l y " n o n l u b r i c a t e d " .
U n d e r these conditions. cold welding of
the surfaces can take place immediately
upon contact.
C o n t a m i n a t i n g films on metal surfaces
can be penetrated under h i g h contact
stresses. r e s u i t i n g i n cold welding of
asperity contacte. I f the asperity june-
tion is stronger than the weaker of the
two metáis i n contact, s l i d i n g m o t i o n w i l l
cause subsurface shear of the j u n c t i o n
and a parcicle larger than the j u n c t i o n
w i l l be t o r n o u t of the surface. I t is also
possible t h a t the j u n c t i o n w i l l not shear
off b u t w i l l grow b y subsurface shear
u n t i l a c r i t i c a l size is reached and the
h e a v i l y worked j u n c t i o n breaks off. T h i s
process is k n o w n as " p r o w f o r m a t i o n "
and is found rnost often under point-
contact conditions i n v o l v i n g a hard
metal s l i d i n g on a soft metal.
A n a l y z i n g W e a r Failures
T h e r e are three sources of evidence
t h a t w i l l lead to an aecurate analysis of
a wear f a i i u r e : the w o r n surface, the
operafcing e n v i r o n m e n t and the wear
debris.
S u r f a c e d a m a g e can range f r o m pol-
ishing or b u r n i s h i n g to removal of a
r e l a t i v e l y large volume of m a t e r i a l . Ex-
a m i n a t i o n of the w o r n surface can pro-
vide m u c h i n f o r m a t i o n — for example.
the a m o u n t of m a t e r i a l removed, the type
of damage (scratching, gouging, plowing,
adhesión, p i t t i n g , corrosión, s p a l l i n g or
simple p e n e t r a t i o n ) , the existence and
character of surface films, whether cer-
t a i n constituents are being attacked
p r e f e r e n t i a l l y , the d i r e c t i o n of relative
m o t i o n between a w o r n surface and
abrading particles. or whether abradfng
particles ha ve become embedded i n the methods: (a) a l t e r i n g the conditions of
surface.
E n v i r o n m e n t a l c o n d i t i o n s have such a ronment. or (b) selecting a inore wear-
pro found effect o n the mechanism and
•ate of metal removal that detailed
cnowledge of these conditions should easier and less expensive, and thus
i l w a y s be sought. For instance, a lime-
•tone erusher sustained erratic wear. w i t h • frequently chosen as a course of a c t i o n
rreater wear o c c u r r i n g when rock from
>ne side of a q u a r r y was processed. T h e of materials for wear resistance is di=-
•ock f r o m t h a t side looked the same as
ock f r o m the rest of the q u a r r y , but
W e a r Failures
geological analysis revealed that i t con-
tained the silicified remains of a coral
reef w i t h sponges that were m u c h harder
and more abrasive than the surrounding
limestóne.
Wear environments may be corrosive.
may have been altered d u r i n g service
(such as by breakdown of a l u b r i c a n t ) ,
may p r o v i d e inadequate lubrication. or
may differ f r o m the assumed environ-
ment on w h i c h the original material se-
lection was made.
W e a r d e b r i s , whether found between
worn surfaces. embedded i n a surface,
suspended i n the lubricant. or beside the
worn p a r t , can provide clues to the wear
mechanism. A wear particle that consiste
of a m e t a l l i c center w i t h an oxide cover-
ing is p r o b a b l y a particle that was de-
tached f r o m the w o r n surface b y abra-
sive or adhesive wear and subsequently
was oxidized by exposure io the environ-
ment. O n the other hand, a small wear
particle that consists solely of oxide m a y
be the result of corrosión on the w o r n
surface w i t h subsequent mechanical re-
moval of the corrosión product.
Procedure for Wear Analysis. Gen-
erally, the steps entailed in a n a l y z i n g a
wear faiiure are as follows:
1 Identify the actual materials in the
worn part, environment. abrasive.
wear debris. and lubricant.
2 Identify the mechanism. or combina-
ron of meehanisms. of wear: adhesive,
abrasive. corrosive. surface fatigue, or
e ros i ve.
3 Define the surface configuration of
both the worn surface and the original
su rface.
4 Define the relative motions in the
system. including direction and ve-
locity.
5 Define the forcé or pressure between
mating surfaces or between the worn
surface and the wear environment on
both the macroscopic and microscopic
scales.
6 Define the wear rate.
7 Define the coefficient of friction.
3 Define the effectiveness and type of
lubricant: oil, grease. surface film,
naturally occurring oxide layer. ad-
sorbed film, or other.
9 Establish whether the observed wear
is normal or abnormal for the par-
ticular application.
10 Devise a solution. if required.
S o l u t i o n s to W e a r P r o b l e m s . W e a r
may be combated by either of t w o
service to provide a less destructive envi-
resistant material for the worn compo-
nent. Generally, the latter method is
changing to a different material is more
in avoiding wear problems. The selection
cussed-in detail i n several articlés i n
Voiume 1 of this Handbook.
Laboratory Examination of
Worn Parts
Analysis of a wear f a i i u r e depends to a
¡arge degree on knowledge of the service
conditions under which the wear oc-
curred. However, as w i t h other failures,
proper analysis of a wear faiiure depends
on consideration of m a n y factors and on
careful examination, both macroscopic
and microscopic.
Wear failures generally are the result
of relatively long-time exposure, yet cer-
tain i n f o r m a t i o n obtained at the time
the faiiure is discovered can be useful i n
establishing cause. For example, analysis
of samóles of the environment (espe-
cially the l u b r i c a n t ) , or of sludge f r e m
the lubricating system or from a used o i l
filter, can reveal the nature and a m o u n t
of wear debris or abrasive i n the system.
Physical Measurement. Examination
of a w o r n part generally begins w i t h
visual observation a n d measurement of
dimensions, w h i c h usuaily involves the
use of micrometers, calipers and standard
or special gages. Observations of the
amount and character of surface damage
often must be made on a microscopic
scale. A n optical comparator, tool-
maker's microscope, recording profilom-
eter or other fine-scale measuring equip-
ment may be required for adequately
assessing the amount of damage that has
oceurred.
Weighing of a w o r n component or as-
sembly a n d comparison of its weight w i t h
that of an unused p a r t can help define the
amount of material lost, as i n abrasive
wear. or the amount of material trans-
ferred to an opposing surface, as i n adhe-
sive wear. Weight-loss estimates a'.so can
help to define relative wear rates for two
opposing surfaces that may be made of
different materials or that may have been
worn by different meehanisms.
Screening of abrasives or wear debris
to determine the particle sizes, and
weight percentage of particles of each*
size. is often helpfu!. T h e combination of
determination of particle size w i t h
chemical analysis of the various screen-
ings can provide useful i n f o r m a t i o n —
for instance, when one component i n an
abrasive m i x t u r e is the p r i m a r y cause of
wear, or when wear debris a n d an abra-
sive coexist i n the wear environment. T h e
combination of screening w i t h micros-
copy often can reveal such details as
progressive alt^ration of the size and
shape of abrasive particles w i t h time, as
might oceur i n a ball m i l ! .
Physical measurements can define the
amount and location of wear damage,
but they can seldom provide enough i n -
formation to establish either the mech-
anism or the cause of the damage.
M i c r o s c o p y is used to study features
of the worn surface. including tíie con-
figuration. d i s t r i b u t i o n and direction of
 . Wear Failures 147

scratches or gouges, and indications of

the preferential removal oí specific con-
stituents of the microstructure. Abra-
sive partióles or wear debris can be
viewed under the microscope to study
their shape and the configuraron of their
edges (sharp or rounded), and to estab-
lish whether or not they have fractured
during the wear process.
Examination of the worn surface by
light microscopy at magnifications up to
about 100 diameters usually is required
to detect uneven or abnormal wear pat-
terns and to reveal the direction of rela-
tive movement between the worn surface
and the opposing surface or abrasive.
(o)
Sometimes, higher magnifications are
required, and either transmission elec-
trón microscopy ( T E M ) or scanning
electrón microscopy (SEM) may be
necessary to study áreas of slight wear.
Direct observation at magnifications
greater than about 50 diameters is diffi-
cult when the part does not fit in the
stage of a metallurgical microscope. Sec-
tioning to remove a portion of the worn
surface for direct observation precludes
repair and reuse of the part. Replication,
which is required for T E M studies, also
can be used for light-microscope or SEM
observations of worn surfaces of large Fzg. 14. Scoring damage caused by chipping of chromium plating on a 4340 steel cylin-
parts. Replication using plástic films or der: (a) scoring on the cylinder: (b) scoring on a mating cast aluminum ailoy B750-T5
harder cast materials offers the addi- (now B850-T5) bearing adapter; and (c) view at 100* of a cross section through a deep
ional advantage that a reproduction of score mark in the aluminum alloy adapter, revealing an embedded lar ge particle of
ne surface can be obtained at a remote chromium ( E x a m p l e 5)
site and carried back to the laboratory
for detailed study. Hard replicas can be were i n a ^ u - c i r c u m f e r e n c e b a n d , but t h e y very thin surface layers. I t is almost
used for physical measurements such as were deeper t h a n those o n the c y l i n d e r a n d always necessary to use special materials
with a profilometer. were filled w i t h s h i n y partióles. I n a d d i t i o n . that support the edge of a specimen i n a
the adapter showed evidence of heavy-, metallographic mount (for example,
Metailography. Examination of the localized b u r n i s h i n g i n the general área i n
microstructure of a worn part can reveal nickel plating on the specimen or pow-
w h i c h scoring o c c u r r e d .
such hiformation as whether the initial dered glass i n the mounting material),
Investigation. T h e h a r d n e s s a n d adher-
microstructure was proper or improper, ence of the c h r o m i u m p l a t i n g on the c y l i n -
and to polish the mounted specimen with
the existence of a localized phase trans- d e r were checked w i t h a steel file a n d a care so that the edge is not rounded.
formaron, the existence of a cold worked v i b r a t o r y e t c h i n g t o o l a n d were f o u n d to Etchants, in addition to preparing a
surface layer, the presence of an ad- be satisfactory. N o l i f t i n g or peeling of the specimen for the examination of micro-
herent surface film or, as i n the following píate was noted i n the á r e a s tested. structure, can be used also to reveal char-
example, the presence of embedded M i c r o s c o p i o e x a m i n a t i o n of a cross sec- acteristics of the worn surface. Two ex-
t i o n t h r o u g h one of t h e deep score m a r k s amples of features that can be revealed
abrasive partióles.
i n the a l u m i n u m a l l o y a d a p t e r revealed a
by etching a worn surface are phase
large p a r t i c l e of c h r o m i u m embedded i n t h e
Example 5. Scoring Damage Caused by
groove. as s h o w n i n F i g . 1 4 ( c ) . A hardness
transformations caused by localized
Chipping of Chromium Plating on a
test p e r f o r m e d on the p a r t i c l e i n d i c a t e d a adhesión to an opposing surface and the
4340 Steel Cylinder (Fig. 14) results of overheating caused by exces-
hardness of 850 K n o o p ( R o c k w e l l C 6 6 ) ; t h e
Several l a r g e c h r o m i u m - p l a t e d 4340 steel hardness of the a l u m i n u m a l l o y adjacent t o sive friction, such as the "white layer"
c y l i n d e r s w e r e r e m o v e d f r o m service be- the p a r t i c l e was 186 K n o o p ( R o c k w e l l B 8 6 ) . (untempered martensite) that sometimes
cause of deep l o n g i t u d i n a l score m a r k s i n Conclusión. I t was c o n c l u d e d that h i g h . develops on steel or cast iron under con-
the p l a t i n g . One of t h e d a m a g e d c y l i n d e r s . localized loads o n the c y l i n d e r h a d resulted ditions of heavy slidLng contact. (White
a n d a m a t i n g cast a l u m i n u m a l l o y B 7 5 0 - T 5 i n c h i p p i n g of t h e c h r o m i u m p l a t i n g . p a r - layer has been detected on scuífed
( n o w B 8 5 0 - T 5 ) b e a r i n g a d a p t e r t h a t also ticles of w h i c h became embedded i n t h e
e x h i b i t e d deep l o n g i t u d i n a l score m a r k s ,
cylinder liners from diesel engines.)
a l u m i n u m a l l o y a d a p t e r . T h e slidir.ír a c t i o n
were s u b m i t t e d f o r e x a m i n a t i o n . I n service, Etching a worn surface also can help in
of the adapter w i t h e m b e d d e d h a r d par-
the b e a r i n g a d a p t e r s l i d a l o n g the surface ticles resulted i n s c o r i n g of b o t h the c y l i n d e r
detecting the selective removal of specific
of the c y l i n d e r . S c o r i n g on the c y l i n d e r a n d a n d the a d a p t e r . I f o n l y t h e c y l i n d e r h a d constituents of the microstructure. The
on the b e a r i n g a d a p t e r are s h o w n . respec- been available f o r e x a m i n a t i o n , it m i g h t worn surface should be examined under
t i v e l y , i n F i g . 14(a) a n d ( b ) . have been concluded t h a t the scoring h a d the microscope and photographed before
T h e grooves o r score m a r k s on t h e been caused b y e n t r a p p e d sand or debris it is etched, because some topographical
l i n d e r were a b o u t 10 i n . l o n g a n d were i n f r o m an e x t e r n a l source. features may be easier to observe on the
a b a n d w i t h a w i d t h of a b o u t í j the c i r c u m - unetched surface.
For va lid failure analysis, techniques
3

ference of the c y l i n d e r . T h e deeper grooves

h a d c o m p l e t e l y p e n e t r a t e d the c h r o m i u m such as ta per sectioning sometimes are Macroscopic and microscopic hardness
p l a t i n g , e x p o s i n g the base steel. T h e score needed to allow metallographic observa- testing can provide an indication of the
m a r k s o n the a l u m i n u m a l l o y adapter also tions or microhardness measurements of resistance of a material to abrasive wear.
 148
because harder materials are likely to
cut or scratch softer materials. compara-
tive hardness of two sliding surfaces may
be important. Microhardness measure-
ments on martensitic steels may indícate
that frictional heat has overtempered
the steel and, when used in conjunction
with a tempering curve (a plot of hard-
ness versus tempering tempera ture), can
allow a rough estímate of surface tem-
perature. Hardness measurements also
can indícate whether or not a wom part
was heat treated correctly.
X - r a y a n d electrón diftraction analyses
can disclose the structure of a crystalline
solid. These techniques are particularly
valuable for analyzing abrasives, wear
debris or surface films, because they can
identify compounds, not merely ele-
ments. Microstructural features such as
retained austenite cannot always be seen
in microscopic examination of an etched
specimen; quantitative diffraction anal-
ysis can reveal the relative amounts of
such unresolved constituents in the
micrestructure.
Chemical and G e o l ó g i c a ! Analysis.
One or more of the various techniques galled área indicated that the heat gen-
of chemical analysis — wet analysis, erated by galling had resulted in localized
spectroscopy, coiorimetry, x-ray fluores-
cence, atomic absorption, or electron-
beam microprobe analysis — usually is
needed for properly analyzing wear had been caused by a combination of local
failure. T h e actual compositions of the
wom material, the wear debris, the abra-
sive and the surface film must be known
in order to devise solutions to most wear
problems. A n analysis of the lubricant
can establish whether the proper base
stock and additives were present. Chemi-
cal analysis may be needed to establish or
confirm the wear mechanism. T h e exam-
ple that follows describes an instance silt. Particle hardness and shape (jagged
in which galling, or adhesive wear
caused by solid-phase welding between
sliding surfaces, was verified by electron-
beam microprobe analysis.
Example 6. Galling Wear on a Carburized
4720 Steel Inner Cone of a Roller-
Bearing Assembly (Fig. 15)
When a roller-bearing assembly was re-
moved from an aircraft for inspection after
a short period of service. several áreas of h a n d l i n g and m o v i n g materials; geologi-
apparent galling were noticed around the
inside surface of the inner cone of the bear-
ing. These áreas were roughly circular spots
of built-up metal, such as the spot shown
in Fig. 15. The bearing had not seized, and
there was no evidence of heat discoloration
in the galled áreas.
The inner cone. made of modifíed 4720
steel and carburized for wear resistance.
rodé on a 17-4 P H stainless steel spacer.
Consequently, it was desirable to deter-
mine whether the galled spots contained
any stainless steel from the spacer. Other
Ítems for investigation were the nature of
:he bond between the galled spot and the
.nner cone and any evidence of overtem-
oering or rehardening resuiting from local-
zed overheating.
W e a r Failures
Fig. 15. Evidence of galling, or adhesive
wear, on the inside surface of a car-
burized 4720 steel inner cone of a roller-
bearing assembly. Galling was confirmed
by use of electron-beam microprobe
analysis. (Example 6)
Investigaron. Electron-beam microprobe
analysis on a cross section through the
largest galled spot verified the composition
of the spot as 17-4 P H stainless steel.
Microscopic examination revealed that the
built-up metal was welded to the cone.
Microhardness readings on the unaffected
carburized case and on the case beneath the
tempering of the case under the galled
spot.
Conclusión. It was concluded that galling
overload and abnormal vibration of mating
parts of the roller-bearing assembly.
T h e geological s t u d y of soils or simi-
lar abrasive m i x t u r e s of minerals is to the ore, such as "copper o re ", are not
m a n d a t o r y i n a n a l y z i n g wear of tillage uncommon. Such descriptions are too
tools, e a r t h m o v i n g equipment, a n d ore-
h a n d l i n g devices. T h e abrasive charac- being extracted usually has l i t t l e effect
teristics of sandy soils are different f r o m
those of coarse, rocky soils, cíay or fine
or rounded) are i m p o r t a n t . T h e degree of
compaction determines the a m o u n t of b o t h qualitatively and q u a n t i t a t i v e l y , a
pressure t h a t forces abrasive soil par-
tióles against a surface that is being
dragged t h r o u g h the m i x t u r e . I n a d d i -
tion, moisture content is i m p o r t a n t . be- wear, detailed description of the l u b r i -
cause i t determines, i n part, the l u b r i c i t y
and cohesiveness of the m i x t u r e . M a n y
ores, slags a n d s i m i l a r b u l k materials are applied to m a t i n g surfaces, operating
extremely abrasive to equipment for
cal analysis can define the abrasive
character of these aggregates.
Importance of Service History
¡n Failure Analysis
One of the e a r l y steps i n wear-failure
analysis is the identification of the t y p e ence of substances that i n h i b i t or ac-
of wear, or i f more t h a n one type can be
recognized, evalúation of the relative
importance of each type as q u a n t i t a -
tively as possible. T h i s identification of
the type or types of wear requires a de-
tailed description of the service condi-
tions based on cióse observation a n d on
adequate expenence. A casual a n d su-
perficial description of service conditions
is not l i k e l y to be of much valué.
M o r e often than not, descriptions of
service conditions are inccmplete, thus
imposing a serious handicap on the
failure analyst, especially i f he is work-
i n g i n a laboratory remote f r o m the ser-
vice site. For instance, assume that a n
analyst must study the problem of a
badly seized engine c y l i n d e r — obvi-
ously an instance of adhesive metal-to-
metal wear (or lubricated wear, because
use of a suitabie engine oíl is i m p l i e d ) .
Furthermore, assume t h a t d u r i n g an o i l
change the system had been fiushed w i t h
a solvent such as kerosine to rinse ou t the
oíd o i l and had been i n a d v e r t e n t l y left
filled w i t h solvent instead of new o i l . A l s o
assume that a slow leak, resuiting i n loss
of the solvent, was not detected d u r i n g
the operating period i m m e d i a t e l y pre-
ceding seizure. T h e analyst probably
w o u l d receive the damaged parts ( c y l i n -
der block and pistons) after they h a d
been removed from the engine, cleaned
and packed. I f evidence of the substitute
" l u b r i c a n t " could not be clearly estab-
lished, determination of the cause of
failure would be extremely difficuit or
perhaps impossible.
S i m i l a r l y , incomplete descriptions of
service conditions can be misleading i n
analysis of abrasive wear. For example,
i n describing the source of abrasión t h a t
produces wear of m i n i n g and ore-han-
d l i n g equipment, generalized references
vague t o be meaningfuí; the mineral
on the abrasiveness of the m i x t u r e ,
whereas the bulk rock, or gangue, is the
p r i n c i p a l source of abrasive particles.
Unless the gangue minerals are studied
valid assessment of wear, whether normal
or abnormal, is not possible.
I n analysis of conventional lubricated
cant is essential and often m u s t be sup-
plemented by data regarding pressures
tempera tures and surface conditions.
W h e n corrosión is a factor i n lubricated
wear, i t may be difficuit to determine the
temperature, degree of aeration. hydro-
gen-ion concentration, and velocity of the
lubricant, and the composition and con-
centration of the corrodent i n the l u b r i -
cant. Other complications.that make the
analysis more difficuit include the pres-
celerate corrosión.
Effect of Material Properties
on Wear
Various means of i d e n t i f y i n g the com-
positions of the w o m part. wear dobris.
surface film, abrasive and wear environ-