Role of adhesion in sandpaper failure progression

In this study, different grit sizes of sandpapers were used under controlled rubbing experiments using a rheometer to investigate the role of adhesion in failure progression by particulate separation. Frictional shear forces were induced on sandpaper samples of different grit sizes by frictional rubbing of the same and different grit size sandpaper samples. Comparison of failure rates under different normal forces, grit sizes, as well as grit size mismatch, provided insight on the role of particulate adhesion to the sandpaper’s backing sheet on the loss of wear function for different grit-size sandpapers. In conclusion, it is considered that the wear/failure mechanism for the cases corresponding to similar/reasonably close wear ratios are likely to have occurred under similar mechanism, most probably adhesion failure on the abrasive particles.