In-situ technique for measuring wear of materials

A simple in-situ method for studying wear of materials has been developed. This technique involves photographically imaging the specimen under test as a function of wear cycles and subtracting the initial image for identification of wear sites and quantification of wear. From the differential images, the level of wear is determined by calculating the surface area of the worn region. This method also allows one to visualize and gain further understanding of the wear process by viewing the series of images as time-lapsed photography.