Structure–wear-property correlation

Wear is the loss of dimension through plastic deformation, which originates at interfaces between two sliding surfaces. Hence, it is logical to correlate the worn surface features and their morphologies with the resulting wear properties. The two dimensional extent of such wear damage accumulations (i.e., impressions of ploughing lines along with adhered debris fraction), quantified from the worn surface fractographs are observed to predict the nature of the variation in the wear properties with various loading conditions, for different grades of magnesium alloys at ambient temperature. Microstructural investigation of the worn surfaces and the wear debris have been carried out to explain the observed results and to understand the wear micro-mechanisms of different magnesium alloys under various loading conditions. In the present study, a new technique has been employed to measure the extents of ploughing lines impressions with adhered debris formation on the worn surface fractographs off-line under image processing platform.

► Wear tests were carried out extensively for 5 different magnesium alloys at 3 different loading conditions. ► SEM imaging was done for all those worn specimens (i.e., 15 specimens). ► Image processing to quantify extent of damage from all worn surface images correlating wear properties. ► Worn surface keeps the imprint of the whole wear process which was operative.