Adhesive and abrasive wear studies using acoustic emission techniques

Abstract This paper is concerned with the measurement and subsequent analysis of acoustic emission signals from lubricated sliding contacts. The results show that the time-dependent nature of the acoustic signal is able to detect the presence of wear-reducing additives and the predominant wear process occurring. Further, third-body abrasive wear tests show that both wear and acoustic emission signals increase with alumina particle concentration added to the lubricant. A direct empirical relationship between integrated r.m.s. signal and wear volume removed from the test ball in a ball-on-cylinder test apparatus has been obtained.