Wear of Ceramic-Transition Metal Composites

Preliminary resultsand observation onthewear behavior on two ceramic-transition metal composites against two different slider materials are reported. The composites contained molybdenum or chromium as the metalphase, while 3Y-TZP and/or alumina comprised the ceramic phase. In an effort to establish a base line wear behaviour, "standards" of 3Y-TZP and fine grained alumina were also subjected to the same wear conditions. The results, albeit preliminary, indicate very different wear behavior betweenthe samplesas a functionof composition and slider material. Inpart,the wear behaviourcouldbe accounted for on the basis of the equilibrium wear condition reached at the end of the test.