Abstract
In this short paper we report an attempt to describe wear statistically during slow sliding. On application of the Durbin-Watson test on experimentally obtained wear rate data, the incremental wear at one point in time is found to be influenced by earlier events at the sliding interface. This influence becomes increasingly pronounced when higher loads are applied. This is thought to be due to the greater amount of damage sustained by the asperities (as a result of a higher load), thereby allowing the effects of this damage to persist longer; the asperities have a memory of past events at the sliding interface.