ANALYSIS OF ABRASIVE WEAR MECHANISM BY SUCCESSIVE OBSERVATIONS OF WEAR PROCESSES IN SEM.

Single point scratch tests with the semi-spherical pin of a hardened steel, on the flat surface of brass(60Cu-40Zn), S45C(0. 45C steel) and SUS304 (18Cr-8Ni austenitic stainless steel), were carried out under dry and lubricated conditions in a scanning electron microscope(SEM). Successive observations in the SEM show that abrasive wear mechanism can be classified into following four types; cutting type, flaking type, wedge type and ploughing type. The transition of abrasive wear type occurred at critical degree of penetration, on which lubrication affects very much. The ratio of the wear volume to the groove volume depended extremely on the four types of wear.