The assembly of a simple, low cost equipment for the measurement of the wear coefficient of ceramic materials is described in some detail. This equipment was applied to the determination of the wear coefficient of alumina and yttria-partially stabilized zirconia. The wear resistance of zirconia was measured before and after the formation of a ZrC coating on the surface, as the result of a thermal treatment at 1600ºC with the sample wrapped in a carbon powder bed in an argon atmosphere. It was observed that the formation of ZrC provides a surface wear resistance similar to that obtained for alumina, almost 50% higher than that of bulk zirconia.
wear coefficient; alumina; zirconia; ZrC
