A new approach to the mechanics of abrasion

A comparison of the results of abrasive wear tests with the results of scratch tests designed to simulate abrasion shows that they are apparently in contradiction. It is shown that this contradiction arises because the scratch tests fail to simulate an important mechanism of metal removal, side wall stripping. The results of some scratch tests designed to investigate this are described, and a mathematical model which predicts both metal removal and forces is developed. The implications of the model are briefly discussed.