Investigating the influence of sand particle properties on abrasive wear behaviour

Abrasion by sand particles is an important factor causing excessive wear in machines operating in sandy environments. To prevent such machines from failing, knowledge about the abrasive wear process is required. This work focuses on the relation between abrasive particle properties and the wear they cause. Sand was taken from several locations around the world, with variations in particle size and shape. The wear of DIN St-52 steel samples caused by the particles was investigated by performing dry sand-rubber wheel tests with the varieties of sand. The sand particles were sieved to determine their size range. The particle shape was characterised by making images with a confocal microscope and calculating shape factors. The experimental results show significant differences in wear caused by the sand varieties tested. Traditionally used characterisation parameters like size and shape factor, however, cannot explain these differences. There appears to be a relation between the amount of wear and a combination of the particle properties tested. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.

[1]  I. Hutchings.  Tribology: Friction and Wear of Engineering Materials , 1992 .

[2]  S. Manson.  Fatigue: A complex subject—Some simple approximations , 1965 .

[3]  K. Gahr,et al.  Microstructure and Wear of Materials , 1987 .

[4]  J. Archard.  Contact and Rubbing of Flat Surfaces , 1953 .

[5]  A. Torrance,et al.  Wear mechanisms and scale effects in two-body abrasion , 2009 .

[6]  G. Stachowiak,et al.  Simulation of three-dimensional abrasive particles , 2005 .

[7]  Dennis V. De Pellegrin,et al.  Diamond particle shape: Its measurement and influence in abrasive wear , 2009 .

[8]  John A. Williams,et al.  The prediction of friction and wear when a soft surface slides against a harder rough surface , 1996 .

[9]  Tiedo Tinga,et al.  Application of physical failure models to enable usage and load based maintenance , 2010, Reliab. Eng. Syst. Saf..

[10]  W. C. Krumbein.  Measurement and geological significance of shape and roundness of sedimentary particles , 1941 .

[11]  Iain Finnie,et al.  On the size effect in abrasive and erosive wear , 1981 .

[12]  Staffan Jacobson,et al.  The particle size effect in abrasion studied by controlled abrasive surfaces , 1999 .

[13]  Liang Fang,et al.  Predicting three-body abrasive wear using Monte Carlo methods , 2004 .

[14]  Dirk J. Schipper,et al.  Micro-contact based modelling of abrasive wear , 2003 .

[15]  G. Stachowiak,et al.  The Effects of Particle Characteristics on Three-Body Abrasive Wear , 2001 .

[16]  N. Suh,et al.  Abrasive wear mechanisms and the grit size effect , 1979 .

[17]  E. W. C. Wilkins,et al.  Cumulative damage in fatigue , 1956 .

[18]  P. Shipway,et al.  Particle motion and modes of wear in the dry sand-rubber wheel abrasion test , 2009 .

[19]  Giacomo Palmieri,et al.  Superimposed fringe projection for three-dimensional shape acquisition by image analysis. , 2009, Applied optics.

[20]  G. Herdan,et al.  Small particle statistics , 1954 .

[21]  B. Bhushan,et al.  Effects of particle size, polishing pad and contact pressure in free abrasive polishing , 1996 .

[22]  K. Gahr.  Modelling of two-body abrasive wear , 1988 .

[23]  I. Hutchings,et al.  Development of the dry sand/rubber wheel abrasion test , 1996 .

[24]  Jiansheng Xiang,et al.  Three-dimensional particle shape acquisition and use of shape library for DEM and FEM/DEM simulation , 2008 .

[25]  E. Rabinowicz,et al.  A study of abrasive wear under three-body conditions , 1961 .

[26]  Erol Tutumluer,et al.  Evaluation of image analysis techniques for quantifying aggregate shape characteristics , 2007 .

[27]  A. Torrance.  Modelling abrasive wear , 2005 .