1.1 This European Standard describes a method for evaluating the wear of ceramic coatings by use of a reciprocating wear test whereby a flat or spherically ended pin is reciprocated, under load, against a flat plate. Depending on the conditions being simulated, either the pin or plate or both may be coated with the material under test, with the other member of the couple being selected for its relevance to the system under evaluation. The method described is considered to be not suitable for evaluating fretting wear. 1.2 The method is intended for evaluating coatings with a thickness of more than 1 µm, though might also be used for testing thinner coatings.1.3 The test may be carried out under either dry or lubricated conditions. However, the test is not designed for evaluating the properties of lubricants except insofar as they affect the wear behaviour of the materials being tested. Related methods for testing lubricants using reciprocating motion are given in references [4] – [6]. 1.4 Testing a materials couple under a range of loading conditions might provide information about the adhesive and/or cohesive strength of the coating, in addition to its wear behaviour.