Why does oxygen appear in EDS during severe wear on Al 6061 samples?

[darkelf]

Hello,

Did some wear experiments on some Al 6061 samples. Could anyone help with some microstructure descriptions (changes) and why oxygen should appear in the EDS of severe wear (70N at a sliding distance of 3000M)?

Also if anyone has any papers on wear reistance or coefficient of friction I sure would appreciate it.

Cheers

 

[rmw228]

If you exposed the aluminum to air at all following the wear, I would expect oxygen in the EDS signal. Aluminum oxides rapidly, and if you're doing EDS on the surface, there will be a thin layer of Al2O3.

I'm not sure what you mean by microstructure descriptions.

 

[darkelf]

Thank you.
If it's been slided against a steel ring, wouldn't metal transfer during severe wear cause Iron Oxide to appear on the Al surface?

Thanks

 

[rmw228]

I would actually expect aluminum (and therefore aluminum oxide) to appear on the steel surface. The steel is presumably much harder than the aluminum. Because of this, a wear process would wear away the aluminum, leaving the steel mostly intact.