Modeling steady wear of steel/Al₂O₃-Al particle reinforced composite system

Considering that harder asperities on one surface would plastically deform the contact areas of a softer counterpart surface, a theoretical model has been developed to describe the steady sliding wear in a system of an alumina particle reinforced aluminium metal matrix composite pin on a steel disk. The model predicts that the volumetric wear of the pin-on-disk system is proportional to the applied load, and depends on the particle volume fraction of the composite and the relative hardness of the rubbing pair. Experimental results obtained from the steady wear of a particulate Al₂O₃-6061 Al composite/carbon steel system are in reasonably good agreement with theoretical predictions. However, many more experimental data are needed to confirm the general applicability of the proposed wear model for metal matrix composites.