Metal abrasion

Laura Maria Jimenez <laura5s [at] hotmail__com> writes

>For my MA project I want to study the abrasive potential of a plant
>on metal surfaces. I would like to hear suggestions on the
>methodology I could use to quantify and evaluate how abrasive is
>this material on metal samples. ...

If you want to evaluate the metal loss, gravimetric measurements
might do the work. Weight the samples before and after abrasive
treatment. A balance with 0.1 mg resolution can be enough if you do
not use very small samples. This is, in my opinion, the easiest,
fastest and cheapest approach.

If you want to make an evaluation of the surface, you can use
electron scanning microscopy (SEM) evaluate the superficial changes.
If the abrasion is very small, atomic force microscopy (AFM) can
give you the 3D topography of the surface. Another option, for
stronger abrasions, is to use a profilometer that will give you
information of the roughness changes.

These are only suggestions that might or might be not applicable to
your specific case. In any case, I thing the main difficulty is not
to evaluate the degree of abrasion, but to find a reproducible (in
terms of surface, pressure and repetitions) way of applying the
different abrasive treatments to compare them.

I can also suggest you to post you question in the ICOM-CC Metal WG
Yahoo group at

    <URL:http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Metals-WG-ICOM-CC/>

Emilio Cano Diaz
Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Metalurgicas (CENIM)
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC)
28040 Madrid, Spain


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