T03 BICERI Universal Wear-testing Machine

Dr Terry Eyre from Brunel University in the UK developed a multi-functional wear-testing machine and the British Internal Combustion Engine Research Institute (BICERI) distributed it. It was called the “BICERI Universal Wear-testing Machine”. The machine is multi-functional in that it incorporates three different wear contact regimes, mentioned below:

• Pin-on-reciprocating plate module;
• Rotating pin-on-disk module; and
• Block-on-ring module.

Each of these wear contact regimes could be studied by a configuration of the hardware provided.

More than 10 years ago Sasol purchased a Universal Wear Machine from BICERI, wanting to utilize its diversity. Unfortunately this was right around the time that BICERI went bankrupt. Sasol received the machine, but it could never be fully commissioned due to faulty software. The machine was donated to the University of Pretoria a few years ago and was commissioned in 2009 as a CML project.

Figure 1. The BICERI Universal Wear-testing Machine in the Tribology Lab.