Simulation of surface wear by using a pin-on-disk tribometer, metallographic examination

Simple laboratory tests have been realized in water using a pin-on-disc tribometer under Hertz pressures well below the elastic limit of the 304 steel studied. The wear morphologies obtained under different experimental conditions (load, applied time, elimination or non-elimination of wear particles) always present a semi-periodic structure of tracks with small roughness. The structural (X-ray and TEM) characterizations reveal the existence of martensite, both in the degraded areas and in the wear particles. The track formation would result from the pulling out of particles, together with the local phase transformation of austenite into martensite under stresses, followed by the ploughing of the surface. The wear mechanism could be essentially attributed to mechanical and metallurgical effects. (authors)