Abrasive-waterjet testing of thermo-mechanical wear of ceramics

The wear behaviour of liquid phase sintered silicon carbide and conventional single phase silicon carbide ceramics has been studied by a low impingement angle abrasive-waterjet (AWJ). Three issues were focused upon: (i) the material removal mechanisms, (ii) the stability of the wear process, and (iii) a novel technique for transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis of structural changes in the wear zone of the ceramic material. Thermally and deformation related wear mechanisms could be identified by TEM, viz. cracked grains and volumes, plastic deformation, formation of grain boundary cavities, surface oxidation and grain boundary oxidation and melting. The AWJ test showed good stability in performance, and the test has a potential as a ranking method of materials for tribological applications involving sliding leading to high flash temperatures. The AWJ test also enables identification of material removal mechanisms in AWJ machining.