Abstract—Wear generates debris. The debris comes in a wide variety of sizes and shapes. Wear debris turns motor oil black. The black in used oil is like a pigment, it is nanometer-size colloidal metal particles (and carbon) suspended in the oil.Wear debris represents loss of geometric accuracy of moving contacting parts. It can also foul orificesand close spaced parts. Although the total material lost as wear debris in a machine is minute comparedto the volume and weight of the moving parts, it can signal failure of gears or bearings, and expensiverepairs or warranty payments.Until the Industrial Revolution and the development of steam and internal combustion engines, wear was taken for granted. When wear of machinery and tools became a problem, the development of wearresistantmaterials and the study of wear itself increased rapidly. Now we have a large body of informationdeveloped from experience and scientific investigation that can be used in the design and maintenanceof more reliable and economical machinery.

Index Terms—Wear debris, Spectrographic oil analysis

Cite: Aadarsh Mishra*, "Microstructural Analysis of Wear Debris," International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Robotics Research, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 416-421, July 2014.