This paper describes the evolution of elastomer/rubber wear debris morpholo
gy from the in situ leading to trailing edges of sliding contacted wear sur
faces. Special attention is given to establishing the role of grit size, sl
ip rate, and contact length on the formation of wear particles, as well as
the subsequent in situ aggregation of such product into a hierarchy of part
iculate material. Of specific interest is the determination of the in situ
mass/number count partitioning between true wear particles and aggregates.
This population balance is achieved by establishing and monitoring the morp
hological signature of the various particle types as one moves along variou
s in situ positions to the wake location. The validity/reliability of the e
mpirical trends obtained are verified through the use of the appropriate st
atistical measures.