He who recognizes wear early can avoid high costs.

1.  Abrasive wear

Abrasive wear occurs when abrasive particles move along a surface with lower wear resistance than the former abrasive. You will be able to determine this by unmistakable wear marks on the surface.

2.  Erosion

Erosive wear is a phenomenon in which the passage of solid, liquid or even gaseous elements along the surface of the part in question leads to wear marks on the surface. If it concerns chemical substances that are at the root of the wear, the erosion process will accelerate considerably.

3.  Corrosion

Corrosion is basically an umbrella concept behind which numerous wear variants are grouped that are the result of (electro)chemical exposure. Each manifests in a different way. Just think of pitting or crevice corrosion, galvanic corrosion (due to a potential difference between two metals), stress corrosion, acid corrosion (due to an acidic electrolyte pH < 7), intercrystalline corrosion or temperature corrosion.

4.  Fretting

Fretting is also a form of corrosive wear, but where the damage is the result of a combination of load and minimal mechanical movements between two objects that are nominally at rest. This can be caused by, for example, vibrations or cyclic voltages, causing clearance. The order of magnitude can vary from a few microns for example. bolted connections to several tens of nanometers for larger systems. Fretting can be recognized as pits or grooves, with dark-colored rust around them.

5.  Oxidation (Chemical wear)

Oxidation is the reaction between a metal and oxygen, creating oxides. These oxides do not have the same properties as the original metal, resulting in a degradation of the surface characteristics. In addition to the reaction with oxygen, both electricity and high temperature can accelerate the oxidation process, thus affecting the hardness of the material.

6.  Adhesive wear

Adhesive wear occurs when heat builds up due to short-term but repeated friction between two components under the impulse of excessive surface pressure. Due to the adhesion and subsequent re-loosening of the materials, pieces of metal can break off and wear occurs anyway.

7.  Bearing fitting wear

Wear on the bearing fit manifests itself when insufficient lubrication is present, the load is too high, or if there is an inaccurate alignment. This combination creates a rotating and abrasive effect within the bearing fit, whereby particles are worn from the interior of the encapsulating component.

8.  Surface fatigue

When a surface is repeatedly loaded with varying forces, surface fatigue occurs: a wear form in which microcracks manifest themselves in the material surface. It is precisely these cracks that over time will result in the crumbling of material particles or even breakage from the part in question.