Keausan

Keausan is the Indonesian term for wear, referring to the progressive loss of material from solid surfaces due to relative motion. In engineering literature, it is used to describe how components such as gears, bearings, seals, and cutting tools deteriorate over time as surfaces slide, roll, or impact one another.

Wear occurs through several mechanisms: abrasion, adhesion, surface fatigue, and corrosive wear. Abrasion results from hard particles or asperities removing material; adhesion involves material transfer between surfaces formed by metallic bonding during contact; surface fatigue arises from repetitive stress cycles; corrosive wear combines chemical or electrochemical attack with mechanical action.

Measurement is commonly expressed as wear rate or volume/mass loss, often per unit distance or time. Tests include pin-on-disk, block-on-ring, and four-ball configurations. Microscopy and profilometry are used to characterize wear tracks and roughness.

Factors influencing keausan include load, sliding speed, bearing pressures, temperature, lubricant presence and quality, surface roughness, hardness, material pairings, and environmental conditions. Proper lubrication, surface coatings, and material selection mitigate wear.

In practice, keausan is a key consideration in maintenance planning, reliability engineering, and life-cycle cost analyses, particularly in heavy machinery, automotive parts, and manufacturing tools. The term underscores the need to manage wear to extend service life and reduce downtime.