Wear mechanism of stainless steel confirmed by applications of phase-transformation of itself and CCD camera

For the combination of three kinds of diamond sliders with various tip radii and the stainless steel (SUS 304) disks with phase-transformation properties, wear test was carried out under unlubricated condition at a sliding speed of 48–59 mm/s, and under load ranges of 0.5–2.0 N. The measurement of the displacement due to magnetic force generated by frictional force, the topographical analysis, and the observation made by using CCD camera were carried out and compared with the specific wear rates of the stainless steel disk to make the wear process of metals clear. As a result, the following observations were found: (a) the weak parts on the pile-up ridges and the protuberances stretched by plastic flow were removed as wear debris particles beyond their endurance limits; (b) the specific wear rates were detected at the critical displacement φc due to magnetic force which were approximately constant regardless of a normal load; (c) the degree of plastic deformation of asperities and their anti-wear properties in the mild contact stress range would be able to be estimated from the displacement φe in the steady state than from the micro-Vickers hardness values (HV).