Department of ElectroMechanical, Systems and Metal Engineering

Wear testing services

Wear testing of a sliding bearing

Wear testing of a sliding bearing

Wear did our material go? Our field of expertise is questions like these.

Contact a specialist

A broad range of wear test rigs offers the possibility to investigate tribological problems in different scales.

At Labo Soete from a more simple, standardized small-scale coupon-level test rigs (e.g. pin-on-disc, block-on-ring, erosion, scratch testing) to the more complex, closer to application large-scale level testers are available. Each setup offers unique settings that enables to cover a broad range of test matrix and control on the testing environment. The testing method is carefully selected according to best possible match the operating conditions of the investigated material part.



  • Agricultural sector: different ploughshare materials compared and ranked based on pin-on-disc tests.
  • Harvester machine parts investigated in different erosive environment on a centrifugal erosion tester.
  • Manufacturing machines: newly developed materials are tested against scratch abrasion.
  • Oil and pipe industry: pipe and pump material lifetime investigated in slurry-erosive environment in a slurry pot system.
  • Mining industry: Effect of erosion-corrosion investigated in machine components involved in dredging.
  • Wind turbines: different gears and lubrications are investigated in a gear-gear contact FZG.
  • Medical sector: newly applicable bioinert polymer composites are investigated in a pin-on-disc setup.

Case studies & test equipment

Large scale thrust bearing test setup
investigate the friction and wear behavior of axial thrust washers, more particularly pintle bearings.
Investigate the friction and wear behavior of axial thrust washers, more particularly pintle bearings.
Large scale bearing test setup
Investigate the friction and wear behavior of large journal bearings operating in boundary lubrication or dry friction regimes.
Large Scale Bearing setup
Small scale tribometers type pin-on-disk
Wazou, Pin-On-Disk and High Temperature (HTH) CSM Tribometer are some of our small scale tribometers.
Our CSM tribometer
Conveyor chain wear test-rig
The conveyor chain test-rig is a full scale test equipment designed and built to perform wear test on conveyor chains.
Soete laboratory Logo
Shackle chain wear test-rig
The test rig generates and measures wear in a single shackle contact and uses therefore full scale specimens with the correct geometry.
Full scale specimens with the correct geometry.
Back-to-back gear tester (FZG)
Wear and damage testing of finished gears under controlled load, speed and lubrication conditions
Wear and damage testing of finished gears
Large scale flat on flat tribometers
Estimating lifetimes of engineering polymers and friction materials by means of applying heavy loads and low sliding velocities on large scale samples.
Large scale flat on flat tribometers
Universal mechanical tester - tribology
Our universal mechanical tester provides tribology testing for friction, wear, coatings, and lubrication in macro, micro, and nano regimes.
Tribology testing
Keyence VR 5200 wide-area 3D measurement system and Taylor Hobson CCI HD Optical Profiler
Obtain quick 3D imaging and analysis with a non-contact measuring system. The post-processing analysis software offers highly accurate measurements of the scanned object's surface topology, roughness, contour, and form.
The Keyence VR 5200 wide-area 3D measurement system
LECO LV-100-AT automatic hardness tester
Questions regarding wear resistance and machinability? Finding the Vickers hardness will help you choose and inspect your material.
LECO LV-100-AT