Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

A simple physically-based model for the abrasive wear of composite materials is presented based on the mechanics and mechanisms associated with sliding wear in soft (ductile) matrix composites containing hard (brittle) reinforcement particles. The model is based on the assumption that any portion of the reinforcement that is removed as wear debris cannot contribute to the wear resistance of the matrix material. The size of this non-contributing portion of the reinforcement is estimated by modeling the three primary wear mechanisms, specifically plowing, interfacial cracking and particle removal. Critical variables describing the role of the reinforcement, such as its relative size and the nature of the matrix/reinforcement interface, are characterized by a single contribution coefficient, C. Predictions are compared with the results of experimental two-body (pin-on drum) abrasive wear tests performed on a model aluminum particulate-reinforced epoxy matrix composite material.