Effect of ball rotation speed on wear coefficient and particle behavior in micro-abrasive wear tests

In this work, the effect of ball rotation speed on the micro-abrasive wear test was analyzed, both in terms of the wear coefficient and of the behavior of the abrasive particles. Tests were conducted in an equipment with fixedball configuration, on specimens made of AISI 1020 low-carbon steel. The ball was made of quenched and tempered AISI 52100 steel and the rotation speeds of 40, 80 and 150 rpm were selected. Two values of normal load were used, 0.2 and 0.4 N. The abrasive particles were made of silicon carbide (SiC), with average particle size of 6.6 mu m. The experiments were conducted in sets with different concentrations. Additional tests were conducted with a lower value (2.1 mu m) of average particle size. The wear coefficients were plotted as a function of the rotation speed. Results indicate a trend for the decrease in wear coefficient and increase in the number of abrasive particles entrapped on the specimen surface with the increase in rotation speed.