Contact mechanics and the wear of metals

It is commonly observed that metallic wear debris takes the form of thin platelets, leading to the term ‘delamination wear’. Modelling this phenomenon has proved a stiff challenge in Contact Mechanics since the fractures which give rise to wear particles lie parallel, or nearly so, to the surface; i.e. on planes of maximum compressive stress. Sectioning the surface layer beneath a wear track has revealed it to have acquired severe plastic strains, which suggests that the cracks are ductile fractures, driven by plastic strain rather than elastic stress intensity. The paper reviews recent research into the progressive plastic deformation of surfaces in repeated sliding: the process known as ‘ratchetting’. Included is an analysis of ‘running-in’ of rough surfaces by repeated sliding and a discussion of the criterion of rupture under cyclic plastic strain.