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Ball Bearing Macro Tribology
Ball bearings can be made from many different materials, such as metals including stainless steel and chrome steel, and ceramic such as WC and Si3N4. In order to ensure that the manufactured ball bearings possess required wear resistance under the application conditions, reliable tribological evaluation under a high load is in need. It allows us to quantitatively compare the wear behaviors of different ball bearings in a controlled and monitored manner and to select the best candidate for the targeted application. Conventional pin-on-disc tribometers usually have a fixed wear track radius. The ball bearing always slides in the same wear track throughout the wear test. The sandpaper might wear out faster than the ceramic ball bearings with superior wear resistance, which undermines the reproducibility of the wear test on the ball bearings.