Effect of indenter geometry and relationship between abrasive wear and hardness in early stage of repetitive sliding

This paper deals with the abrasive wear of 5xxx aluminium alloys, which is a major problem in industrial applications. First, the influence of work hardening on abrasive wear resistance is investigated. A work hardened and annealed aluminium alloy is subjected to repeated scratch test using a sphere/plane configuration. It is shown that the work hardening increases the abrasive wear resistance in early stage of repetitive sliding. In the second part, the influence of the geometry indenter on abrasive wear is investigated. Repeated scratch tests with conical indenter were carried out on the same aluminium alloys. Scratch test using a conical indenter was shown that work hardening treatment (H24) on the 5xxx aluminium alloy does not improve wear resistance. Moreover, the conical indenter induces greater wear than the spherical indenter in repetitive sliding with few number cycles (10 cycles). An accurate interpretation of these phenomena is then proposed. © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.