A generalised sliding wear model for inhomogeneous coatings

In this work, a recently proposed continuum mechanics based multiscale appr oach to study the sliding wear behaviour of homogeneous coatings is general ised to components coated with an initially inhomogeneous material. The app roach is suitable for either single phase or multiphase materials with and without porosities, and relies on a representative volume element of the co ated system and periodic unit techniques to incorporate explicitly second p hase particles or porosities. A wear relation is derived by expressing the rate of material removed in terms of an average ratchetting strain measure integrated along the sliding direction, and the average depth at which the inelastic deformation within the coating localises. The model is used to in vestigate the sliding wear of a Mo coating containing 5% randomly distribut ed porosities.