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Wear & Tribology

Tribological effects under the microscope

Wear & Tribology

The solution of wear problems starts with a detailed examination of the tribological system with all influence factors that are involved. From this, it can be deduced what frictional conditions and wear mechanisms are to be reckoned with and when they come into play.

In practice, more than one of these effects is active at any given time or they occur consecutively during the wearing process. However, it is usually one of them that plays the predominant part in failure due to wear.

Experience shows that every tribological system can be optimised by selecting the right coating.

Tribological system

A tribological system consists of the surfaces of two components that are in moving contact with one another and their surroundings. The type, progress and extent of wear are determined by the materials and finishes of the components, any intermediate materials, surrounding influences and operating conditions.

  1. Base object
  2. Opponent body
  3. Surrounding influences: Temperature, relative humidity, pressure
  4. Intermediate material: Oil, grease, water, particles, contaminants
  5. Load
  6. Motion

Typical wear mechanisms

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