Physical meaning of the wear volume equation for nitrogenated diamond-like carbon based on energy considerations

A modified Archard-Holms type of wear volume equation was reconsidered in terms of its energetic aspects. Both the wear volume equation and the friction coefficient are treated in terms of frictional energy. A theoretical approach to the wear volume-frictional energy equation proposes that the wear coefficient consists of the wear particle size and surface energy as well as the ratio of the wear energy to the frictional energy. The value of the wear coefficient of nitrogenated diamond-like carbon was estimated using the measured hardness, wear particle size and surface energy and compared to the wear coefficient obtained by the wear volume-frictional energy test on the ball-on-disk method. The wear volume equation, using the Young׳s modulus instead of the hardness, was introduced based on fracture theory, and the wear volume equation is shown to be equivalent to the conventional wear volume equation for nitrogenated diamond-like carbon.