THE UNLUBRICATED SLIDING WEAR OF STEELS - THE CONTACT CONDITIONS IN THE SLIDING ZONE

Previously reported studies of the unlubricated sliding of quenched-an d-tempered steel pins against similarly treated rings have been supple mented by temperature measurements and tests over a range of loads and speeds. The rate of wear of a pin depends on the hardness of the coun tersurface; it is shown that the increase in the rate for softer rings is accompanied by a higher temperature in the pin and a rougher wear track on the ring. Attention is thereby drawn towards the conditions i n the contact zone, both during running in and when a steady state has been reached.