ABRASIVE WEAR OF LUBRICATED CONTACTS.

A foil bearing arrangement has been used to investigate the wear of carbon graphite materials running against 316 stainless steel in the presence of a hydrodynamic film of fluid contaminated with particulate material. As the thickness of the fluid film is reduced so the wear rate of the carbon reaches a maximum value, further reductions in thickness actually producing reduced wear rates. Possible mechanisms and implications of this behaviour are discussed.