The Delamination Theory of Wear

Abstract A new theory for wear of metals is considered. The theory is based on the behavior of dislocations at the surface, sub-surface crack and void formation, and subsequent joining of cracks by shear deformation of the surface. The proposed theory predicts qualitatively that the wear particle shape is likely to be thin flake-like sheets and that the surface layer can undergo large plastic deformation. It also predicts a number of experimentally observed phenomena such as the difference in wear particle sizes and the dependence of fretting wear rate on displacement amplitude. All theoretical predictions are supported by experimental evidences. A wear equation is developed based on the proposed theory.