High speed wear testing of an abradable coating

► A high speed rig was built to study the wear of abradable coatings in a turbine. ► The rig was found to produce similar wear behaviour to in-service coatings. ► More than one wear mechanism may be present within one test. ► The wear mechanisms were characterised by image analysis of the blade tip. ► Stroboscopic imaging of the test showed a non-linear build-up of adhered debris.