Macroscopic Wear Characteristics of Ceramics under the Rolling Contact

Abstract

The wear tests of ceramic materials in dry rolling contact were carried out at room temperature to investigate their macroscopic wear characteristics. Both point contact and line cootact were adapted in the wear tests of them. Ceramic materials used in these tests were silicon nitride, silicon carbide, cermet of TiN and TiC, titania, and alumina. The wear test of the bearing steel was carried out to compare to the wear test results of the ceramic materials. The results showed that the wear rate of silicon nitride was smaller than any other ceramic materials and bearing steel. In the steady wear, the wear volume of ceramic materials increases linearly with the rolling distance. It was also found from the experimental results that fracture toughness and surface roughness dominate the wear process of ceramic materials in dry rolling contact.