Nanomechanical testing of third bodies

During wear, materials undergo chemical and mechanical changes that lead to the formation of what are known as ‘third bodies’. Tribologists have long understood that third bodies have significant influence on the friction and wear performance of materials. However, the inhomogeneous nature of third bodies and how they form at the ‘buried interface’ of a sliding tribological contact has long made it difficult to fully characterize and study them. Recently, there have been significant advancements in nanomechanical testing such that researchers have begun to use these techniques to, for the first time, determine mechanical properties of third bodies. Coupling these measurements with high resolution electron microscopy and surface chemical analysis has finally given tribologists the ability to obtain the necessary data to understand and model third bodies and their connections to friction and wear. This review will present recent work on the topic of nanomechanical testing of third bodies while at the same time identifying the challenges and opportunities this research presents.