Abrasive wear testing is just one of the common reliability tests that can be used to ensure that a new product is able to withstand an acceptable level of wear-and-tear and reach both your’s and your consumers’ quality expectations. It’s especially important for assessing the durability of a product’s finish or coating, and also for textiles.
The ability to test a product’s durability against abrasion throughout its life cycle is particularly helpful for products that are handled a lot by consumers/users or those where the finish or coating is a key part of the product’s appeal (such as a painted finish or a gold-plated jewellery piece). You will reasonably expect the product not to show signs of abrasion after being used normally.
Given that a coating is often protective, its ability to last throughout the product’s reasonable life cycle may be key to ensure the product’s safety. In addition, it is an obvious quality consideration since it affects the aesthetics of the product.
In addition, the abrasive wear testing will also uncover unwanted defects and performance issues, too.
If we focus on laboratory reliability tests for abrasion, to avoid confusion, they’re commonly named: scuff, abrasion, and wear testing.
Taber wear testing
This is one of the most common wear testing methods used in the lab.
During the Taber test, a solid plate on the machine is covered with the material, fabric, or coating being tested.
The machine holds this plate in place and abrasive wheels spin on top of the plate and its coating/material for a certain period of time or number of cycles.
Here’s a video of taber wear testing taking place using the taber machine:
Calculating abrasion resistance
The test material/coating’s abrasion resistance can be calculated through different methods. Here’s a couple used with Taber machines:
- Cycles to a Specific End-Point – After a fixed number of cycles of the abrasive wheels the test specimen is evaluated by prior-determined criteria, such as loss of coating, colour change, loss of strength, etc, in comparison with a control sample that adheres to the standard required. Visual checks are often used here with graded scales, for instance, when colour change is being checked.
- Taber Wear Index – Calculates the rate of wear after by measuring the loss in weight of the test specimen (in mg) per
thousand cycles of abrasion. A lower score equals a better abrasion resistance.
Here’s the equation used:
I = [(A – B) * 1000] / C
I = wear index
A = weight (mass) of specimen before abrasion
B = weight (mass) of specimen after abrasion
C = number of test cycles
Taber wear testing is an optimal way to get detailed data when evaluating abrasion resistance. Any testing using a Taber machine will follow standards similar to ASTM D4060 – 19 Standard Test Method for Abrasion Resistance of Organic Coatings by the Taber Abraser.
Obtaining more data about product durability
Wear testing in the field
Gathering consumer feedback from use of the products in the field is an effective way to perform wear testing.
Consumers can either be polled by directly contacting them, or attention can be paid to customer support channels to examine the frequency and type of defects coming back. If there is a high incidence of one particular type of wear, this suggests that there are durability issues and products can be retested.
Of course, this is far slower than doing accelerated testing in the lab before the product is launched, but it will still be a valuable source of information over time.
Fingernail test
This test is effective, but will not return detailed data (unlike Taber wear testing). An inspector runs a fingernail or test instrument such as pencils of differing hardness over a sample of the product.
If the product withstands scratches, this is a quick way to determine some measure of durability during normal usage. But this is not a scientific lab test like the Taber test, and so is perhaps most helpful for inspectors on-site in the factory to get quick answers.
A word on textile wear testing
As mentioned, textiles are often subjected to abrasive wear testing. Common issues that appear in textiles, footwear, and apparel due to abrasion are cosmetic and integrity defects.
Textile wear testing has its own testing standards and numerous wear testing methods. A good starting point is to check ASTM D3181 – 15(2019) Standard Guide for Conducting Wear Tests on Textiles.
Other related reliability testing
You may also consider this testing for your items:
