What is abrasive wear & how it is measured
Abrasion is a process of wearing something away and can often be classified as two or three-body. Two-body involves particles embedded in one surface ploughing into the other while three-body involves freely rolling particles removing material from one surface throughout the process.
We use a genuine Taber Abrader to test a material or coatings’ability to resist abrasion. A flat specimen is mounted on to a turntable and is rotated at a known fixed speed resulting in wear tracks that can be profiled or evaluated for mass loss, or changes in appearance.
With a grit feed attachment we are also able to evaluate three body abrasion by introducing grit uniformily and continuously at a specific rate.
JB using the Taber Abrader
Two Genuine taber abrasive wheels are lowered on to the surfaces at a specific pressure and as the specimen is rotated the wheels are driven in opposing directions forming wear (debris is removed by a vacuum). A circular pattern is formed on the sample which is designed to reveal the abrasion resistance at all angles.
The number of cycles to reach a specific condition can be determined or the wear pattern can be evaluated after a set number of cycles. Either way we have the facilities to carry out full evaluation after testing
Taber Abrader with Abrasive Wheels
Taber Abrader
There are various standard test methods that are used, the most common are:
- ASTM D 4060 Standard Test Method for Abrasion Resistance of Organic Coatings by the Taber Abraser
- BS ISO 9352 Plastics – Determination of Resistance to Wear by Abrasive Wheels.
The Taber abrader can be used to test to many more standards, a full list can be found at the Taber Industries website
