Tracer techniques for the investigation of wear mechanisms in coated or surface-treated machine parts

Tracer techniques allow wear measurement down to rates of only some μg/h, and these measurements can be done continuously within an inspection test run, not requiring dismantling of the parts to be examined. The measurements revealed the materials pair of a chilled cast iron camshaft and a hard metal coated rocker arm to be superior in terms of wear behaviour over the materials pair of a malleable cast iron camshaft with induction hardening and a rocker arm with hard chromium plating. The total wear of a chilled cast iron camshaft was measured to be approx. 90% less than that of the malleable cast iron camshaft, under equal loading conditions. With the rocker arms, this ratio is approx. 1:3. Another disadvantage of the latter pair is the overall wear ratio of 19:1. The best wear resistance was measured with a TiN-coated rocker arm combined with a chilled cast iron camshaft. (orig./MM)