Wear Measurement of Spherical Component Articulation with Roundness Machine

The wear measurement is crucial in deciding the accuracy and correctness of the results during a wear study.A geometrical method was proposed using a conventional roundness machine to measure the wear patch on the spherical bearing surface.A mathematic model was established to calculate the wear volume for both convex and concave surfaces.Since the measurement was carried out directly from the bearing area,it had higher accuracy and precision than the traditional gravimetrical method.Other advantages include less time consuming,no limit to component size,no added error due to contamination and additional wear or damage from other sites,etc.This method can be used as an alternative to the traditional gravimetrical method for the wear measurement of spherical bearing surfaces such as ball bearings and hip joints.