Wear by hard particles

Abrasive wear can be caused by hard particles sliding on a softer solid surface and displaying or detaching material. Different types of interactions are distinguished between the sliding particles and the wearing surface of the solid. Frequently, resistance against abrasive wear is only considered as a function of hardness of the wearing material. However, a more general model shows that, depending on the interaction, the capability of deformation or the fracture toughness of the wearing material is very important in addition to hardness. Abrasive wear resistance can substantially be improved by second phases embedded in a hard or soft matrix. The theoretical models are supported by a lot of experimental results from studies on metallic or ceramic materials.