Using parallel scratches to simulate abrasive wear

Abrasive wear is currently classified according to different particle dynamics: (a) the sliding of active particles on the sample surface and (b) the rolling of abrasive particles between the surfaces. In this paper, instrumented laboratory tests are used to present a new methodology for the simulation of abrasive wear. The rolling of the abrasives is represented by a sequence of indentations, and the sliding of the active particle by a sequence of scratches. A new piece of equipment was especially developed to reproduce the action of an abrasive particle. Two high resolution sliders drive the sample horizontally while the indenter is moved vertically by another slider. Besides this, a high resolution piezoelectric translator is used to control the indenter movement while a 3D load cell controls the intensity of the process. A worn surface produced in a rubber wheel abrasive wear test was used as the reference for the simulation. Its topography was assessed by using laser interferometry and scanning electron microscopy and showed that the prevailing wear mechanism was parallel scratches. The results showed that the superimposition of scratches is the basis which makes it possible to correlate topographical parameters of the reference to the controlling variables used in the simulation. A special method to describe the average depth of the scratches in function of the distance between them (superimposition) was developed. Wear occurs when superimposition is greater than 80%. The average depth of the scratches increased according to an elevation in the degree of superimposition and to the augmentation of normal load. This simulation methodology produced a surface topographically and morphologically similar to that of the reference.