Frictional Wear in F.C.C. Metal Single Crystals

The effect of wearing or polishing on the microstructure of the surface layer of crystals was investigated on aluminium and various copper alloys by using an X-ray technique and an electron probe microanalyser. A fundamental change in the surface structure in the crystals due to wear was found to be the bending of the lattice planes. The axis of the bending was related closely to the direction of friction on the surface. The solute composition of the thin layer of the surface in the alloy crystals was observed to increase due to polishing. This phenomenon may be interpreted in terms of the elastic interaction between solute atoms and dislocations during the friction process.