A contribution to the theory of mechanical wear

An attempt is made to predict the wear behaviour, particularly of metals, when wear arises from asperity interactions alone. It incorporates the concept of fatigue failure and also of simple plastic deformation failure which is considered as fatigue failure in one cycle of loading. The analysis demonstrates that fatigue mechanisms of wear are not inconsistent with observed behaviour and indicates an approach to a better appreciation of the effects of such factors as material constants and surface topographical features.