Wear tests of non-stick coating with automatized evaluation of the surfaces

摘要

This contribution introduces a new wear testing machine. A review of traditional testing facilities for non-stick coatings shows non-satisfying machines. All standard methods do not represent the loading under the conditions of the practical applications. The used cookware coatings show an overlay of scratches and delaminated patches. These damages can be introduced with the new machine, which uses standard kitchen tools like knife, whisk, fork and spatula. In a second step the intensity of the damages is characterized by an optical method. A video-camera image is analyzed by an image processing unit, and the results represent a grading of the damages in a scale from 1 to 10. The results correspond with the standard method in which the tested surfaces are compared with reference pans just by the human eyes. The advantage of the new software tool is the quick and objective result.