Wear volume determination during running-in for PEHL contacts

The relation of wear volume and the change of average surface roughness under the "zero-wear" condition was derived, with the assumption that the original profiles of the surface below the wear plane remain exactly the same as before, i.e. no plastic deformation. The flattening of asperities on an engineering rough surface was simulated with numerical techniques. The variation in wear volume and average surface roughness with the depth of wear was studied. The pattern and the correlation length of rough surface were checked and found to have no effect on the relation of wear volume and change of average roughness. The simulated results show that the variation of wear volume and the change of average roughness can be described by a second order polynomial. The model was also validated with experimental results obtained by using a two-disc wear machine. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.