Wear mechanisms in materials with granitic textures—Applicability of a lateral crack system model

In petreous materials, the mechanisms causing wear are several depending on which system we need to focus in. This work describes how it is possible to employ the lateral crack system, initially outlined to explain the wear of ceramic materials, to understand the wear of materials with granitic textures (granite, granodiorite, gabbro, quartzite,…) while being processed by diamond tools. For assessing the wear parameters of ten types of stones a new experimental procedure was developed and optimised to provide accurate measurements of specific energies and resultant forces as, at the same time, considers the impact that each stone has in the wear of a standard tool. The experimental results show the applicability of the lateral crack system in stones. Following a lateral crack system model, it was possible to attain a relation between the volume loss caused by a diamond tool and the macro-mechanical properties of the stone (hardness, Young's modulus and fracture toughness) while knowing the normal force applied during the erosive wear.