Study of surface roughness produced by conventional machining processes and its influence on the abrasive wear test

The inevitable occurrence of wear in different situations causes mass loss from the surface, either by contact or by relative movement of solids, liquids, or gases. Each process imparts a unique "fingerprint" of roughness and texture. milling generate directional patterns tied to tool motion, while grinding’s abrasive action creates finer, more isotropic finishes. These differences set the stage for how surfaces behave in abrasive wear tests. In this work, we present a comparative study of the influence of the surface finish of components and equipment on the resistance to abrasive wear. To this end, SAE 1020 steel specimens with different superficial finishes from three conventional machining processes were made: grinding, milling, and planing + filing. All the specimens were subjected to machining using the processes mentioned above. Roughness mean measurements obtained values of grinding 0.06 µm, milling 1.76 µm, and planing + filling 0.62 µm. The abrasive wear test followed the ASTM G65-04 (2016) standard (Abrasive Wear Test by Rubber Wheel). The standard requires a 0.8 µm surface finish or less for specimens. This study aims to carry out a comparative analysis of the influence of these surface finishes on the results of the abrasive wear test, as there will be situations where it is impossible to carry out such finishes due to the geometric complexity of the piece and the use of metallic/ceramic coatings with materials of high hardness to increase component life and minimize the effect of wear.