ABOUT THIS BOOK:

The response of wear rate and critical failure load to contamination and material hardness has been determined for AISI 52100 steel. A ball-on-roller contact geometry was used, in which the stationary rollers had three grades of hardness: 42, 56, and 63 HRC. The test contaminant, aluminium oxide (AI2 03 ) powder in < 10, 10-20, and 20-30/am sizes, was injected into an SAE 10 base oil at 10, 100, and 200 mg/litre concentration levels. Machine load and sliding speed were varied in the range 15 to 210 kg and 0.26 to 1.05 m/s, respectively. A qualitative assessment of worn surfaces was also undertaken. For the largest contaminant size and concentration, the load carrying capacity to failure was about half that for the uncontaminated condition of operation.