Wear is one of the main forms of workpiece failure, wear causes a large consumption of energy and raw materials, according to incomplete statistics, 1/3 to 1/2 of the energy is consumed by friction and wear. According to estimates by the former Federal Ministry of Technology and Science, the former Federal Republic of Germany lost 10 billion marks per year due to wear and tear. A development plan by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the U.S. Energy Development Agency (ERDA) to reduce friction and wear could save the United States $16 billion a year, or 11 percent of its energy consumption. According to a US publication, the annual losses caused by wear and tear of several major categories of products in the United States are: $13.4 billion for aircraft, $6.4 billion for ships, $40 billion for automobiles, and $2.8 billion for cutting tools. There is still a lack of comprehensive statistics on the damage caused by friction and wear in China. According to the survey report of China's machinery department in 1974~1975, the annual consumption of steel for auto parts is 230,000 tons, of which 2/3 is used for maintenance, and most of it is caused by wear and tear. In addition, according to the incomplete statistics of China's electric power, building materials, metallurgy, coal mining and agricultural machinery and other five departments, the annual consumption of spare parts is more than 1.5 million tons of steel, taking the scraper conveyor used in coal mines as an example, the loss caused by the wear of the middle groove is 1~200 million yuan per year. If you also consider the economic losses caused by the wear and tear of other machinery and equipment and the consumption of steel, it will be staggering. It can be seen that improving the quality of wear-resistant steel, developing new high-performance wear-resistant steel, and extensively and in-depth research on the wear mechanism of steel to reduce the loss caused by wear are of great significance for the development of national economic construction.
