WEAR
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 3765 ▶ |
| Object type | General information |
The gradual impairment of a device or system.
Wear is a universal phenomenon in natural as well as in artificial systems, obviously connected with entropy's increase. P. WINIWARTER and C. CEMPEL, who investigated wear, define the following aspects of the wear problem:
- Waer leads timely to the destruction of the system. In natural system “wear causes death”. In artificial ones, it leads to breakdown.
- “Wear amplifies wear, a positive feedback leading to autocatalytic or nonlinear behavior”.
- It is possible to define the notion of breakdown time, which “is determined by the internal structure of the system and the way of energy dissipation inside the system”.
- Systems have a “life curve”, reflecting the wear process. It can be more or less defined and used for “diagnosis and prognosis” (1992, p.23-26).