Plastic Deformation and Wear Process at a Surface During Unlubricated Sliding

Abstract

The plastic deformation and wear of a 304 stainless steel surface sliding against an aluminum oxide rider with a spherical surface (the radius of curvature: 1.3 cm) were observed by using scanning electron and optical microscopes. Experiments were conducted in a vacuum of 10⁻⁶ Pa and in an environment of 5 × 10⁻⁴ Pa of chlorine gas at 25°C. The load was 500 grams and the sliding velocity was 0.5 centimeter per second. The deformed surface layer which accumulates and develops successively is left behind the rider, and step-shaped proturbances are developed even after single-pass sliding under both environmental conditions. A fully developed surface layer is gradually torn off leaving a characteristic pattern. The mechanism for tearing away of the surface layer from the contact area and sliding track contour is explained assuming the simplified process of material removal bused on the adhesion theory for the wear of materials.

Presented as an American Society of Lubrication Engineers paper at the ASME/ASLE Lubrication Conference in Washington, D.C., October 5–7, 1982

Notes

Presented as an American Society of Lubrication Engineers paper at the ASME/ASLE Lubrication Conference in Washington, D.C., October 5–7, 1982