The running-in wear of a multi-asperity silicon carbide sphere-on-silicon flat interface is investigated at the micro- and nanoscale in relation to the friction behaviour of an unlubricated macroscale tribological system sliding in a unidirectional mode. Experiments and contact simulations indicated that the macroscale friction behaviour during running-in was governed by the wear behaviour of roughness asperities on the sphere and their influence on the interfacial contact pressure. Specific ploughing tracks on the flat corresponded to individual asperities on the sphere which, when worn-off, led to lower, more stable friction behaviour and mild wear at an atomic attrition-like rate. It was also found that single asperity contact simulations are unable to reliably predict multi-asperity friction and wear behaviour for this system.

在微米和纳米尺度上研究了多粗糙碳化硅球-硅平面界面的磨合磨损，与未润滑的宏观摩擦学系统以单向模式滑动的摩擦行为有关。实验和接触模拟表明，磨合期间的宏观摩擦行为受球体上粗糙不平体的磨损行为及其对界面接触压力的影响。平面上的特定耕作轨迹对应于球体上的各个凹凸不平，当磨损时，会导致更低、更稳定的摩擦行为和以类似原子磨损的速率轻度磨损。还发现单粗糙接触模拟无法可靠地预测该系统的多粗糙摩擦和磨损行为。