ABSTRACT
This chapter shows what is known about various types of wear. Wear rates are controlled by a balance between the rates of wear, particle generation, and particle loss. Particle generation rates are influenced by many factors including the nature and amount of retained particles. There is general uncertainty about the influence of surface roughness on wear rate, and some polymers wear metals away, without the presence of abrasives. To check the effect of surface roughness on wear in the early stages of sliding, several polymers were slid on carbon steel with surface roughness from 0.1 μm to 3 μm Rq, some parallel with the sliding direction and some perpendicular. The proponents of each mechanism have estimated what percentage of all practical wear is of their favorite kind, and the sum is much greater than 100%. Hence an engineer has a dilemma of which wear or failure mode to design against.
