Wear Behavior of Composites Based on ZA-27 Alloy Reinforced by Al<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript> Particles Under Dry Sliding Condition

In present study, the effect of Al₂O₃ particle reinforcement on the sliding behavior of ZA-27 alloy composites was investigated. The composites with 3, 5, and 10 wt% of Al₂O₃ particles were produced by the compocasting procedure. Tribological properties of unreinforced alloy and composite were studied, using block-on-disk tribometer under unlubricated sliding conditions at different specific loads and sliding speeds. The worn surfaces of samples were examined by the scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The test results revealed that those composite specimens exhibited significantly lower wear rate than the ZA-27 matrix alloy specimens in all combinations of applied loads and sliding speeds. The difference in the wear resistance of composite with respect to the matrix alloy, increased with the increase of the applied load/sliding speed and Al₂O₃ particle content. The highest degree of improvement of the ZA-27 alloy tribological behavior corresponded with change of the Al₂O₃ particles content from 3 to 5 wt%. At low sliding speed, moderate lower wear rate of the composites over that of the matrix alloy was noticed. This has been attributed to micro cracking tendency of the composites. Significantly reduced wear rate, experienced by the composite over that of the matrix alloy at the higher sliding speeds and loads, could be explained due to enhanced compatibility of matrix alloy with dispersoid phase and greater thermal stability of the composite in view of the presence of the dispersoid. Level of wear rate of tested ZA-27/Al₂O₃ samples pointed to the process of mild wear, which was primarily controlled by the formation and destruction of mechanical mixed layers (MMLs).     

Tribological studies of epoxy and its composite coatings on steel in dry and lubricated sliding

Industrial lubricants are invariably used with additives (with high sulfur and phosphorous contents) for tribological performance enhancement. However, these additives are environmentally very harmful. Hence, there is an urgent need to find alternate solutions for enhancing the tribological performance of lubricants and components without the use of harmful additives. The objective of this work is to investigate the feasibility of using polymer composite coatings in enhancing the tribological properties of steel surfaces in dry and base oil lubricated conditions. Pure epoxy and its composite (with 10?wt-% of graphene or graphite powder) films were coated onto steel substrates and tested under dry and base oil lubricated conditions. Friction and wear experiments were conducted on a ball on cylinder tribometer between polymer/composite coated cylindrical steel surface (shaft) and an uncoated steel ball as the counterface. Tests were conducted at various normal loads and speeds. In dry condition at 3 N load and 0.63?m s^??1 sliding speed, the wear life of epoxy was increased by five times and coefficient of friction was nearly the same (0.18) on inclusion of graphene nanoparticle. In lubricated case, epoxy/graphene composite coating performed eight times and more than five times better than pure epoxy and epoxy/graphite respectively.     

Effect of nanoparticles on the tribological behaviour of short carbon fibre reinforced poly(etherimide) composites

The tribological behaviour of nano-TiO₂ particle filled polyetherimide (PEI) composites, reinforced additionally with short carbon fibre (SCF) and lubricated internally with graphite flakes, was investigated. The wear tests were conducted on a pin-on-disc apparatus, using composite pins against polished steel counterparts under dry sliding conditions, different contact pressures and various sliding velocities. It was found that the conventional fillers, i.e. SCF and graphite flakes, could remarkably improve both the wear resistance and the load-carrying capacity. With the addition of nano-TiO₂, the frictional coefficient and the contact temperature of the composite were further reduced, especially under high pv (the product of the normal pressure, p, and the sliding velocity, v) conditions. Based on microscopic observations of worn surfaces and transfer films on the counterparts, possible wear mechanisms were discussed.     

The Tribological Behavior of a Ti-46Al-2Cr-2Nb Alloy Under Liquid Paraffine Lubrication

The tribological behavior of a Ti-46Al-2Cr-2Nb alloy prepared by hot-pressed sintering was investigated under liquid paraffine lubrication against AISI 52100 steel ball in ambient environment and at varying loads and sliding speeds. For comparison, the tribological behavior of a common Ti-6Al-4V alloy was also examined under the same testing conditions. The worn surfaces of the two alloys were analyzed using a scanning electron microscope. The friction coefficient of the Ti-46Al-2Cr-2Nb alloy in the range of 0.13–0.18 was significantly lower than that of the Ti-6Al-4V alloy (0.4–0.5), but comparable to that under dry sliding, which indicated that TiAl intermetallics could be more effectively lubricated by liquid paraffine than titanium alloys. Applied load and sliding speed have little effect on the friction coefficient of the Ti-46Al-2Cr-2Nb alloy. The wear rate of the Ti-46Al-2Cr-2Nb alloy was about 45–120 times lower than that of Ti-6Al-4V alloy owing to Ti-6Al-4V alloy could not be lubricated effectively. The wear rate of the Ti-46Al-2Cr-2Nb alloy increased with increasing applied load, but decreased slightly at first and then increased with increasing sliding speed. The wear mechanism of the Ti-46Al-2Cr-2Nb intermetallics under liquid paraffine lubrication was dominated by main plowing and slight flaking-off, but that of the Ti-6Al-4V alloy was plastic deformation and severe delamination.     

The influence of heat treatment on the sliding wear behavior of a ZA-27 alloy

The effects of heat treatment, involving solutionizing at temperature of 370 °C for a relatively short period of time (3 or 5 h), followed by quenching in water, on tribological behavior of ZA-27 alloys were examined.Dry sliding wear tests were conducted on as-cast and heat-treated ZA-27 samples using block-on-disk machine over a wide range of applied loads. To determine the wear mechanisms, the worn surfaces of the samples were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The tribological results were related to the microstructure and mechanical properties.The heat treatment resulted in reduction in the hardness and tensile strength but increase in elongation. The heat-treated alloy samples attained improved tribological behavior over the as-cast ones, both from the aspects of friction and wear. The improved tribological behavior of the heat-treated alloys, in spite of reduced hardness, could be the result of breaking the dendrite structure, when the fraction of interdendrite regions was considerably decreased and a very fine α and η mixture was formed at the same time. The wear response of the samples has been corroborated through characteristics of worn surfaces and dominant wear mechanisms.     

Wear mechanisms of K2Ti4O9 whiskers reinforced Al20Si aluminum matrix composites with lubrication of water and tetradecane

The tribological properties of K₂Ti₄O₉ whisker reinforced Al20Si aluminum matrix composites were investigated in a mode of low amplitude reciprocal sliding. The ball-on-disk tests were performed at applied loads of 20–100 N and sliding velocity of 0.09 m s⁻¹. The water lubricated composites demonstrated higher wear resistance and friction coefficient than the tetradecane lubricated composites did. The main wear mechanism is microgrooving at low applied loads and tribochemical wear at high applied loads for the pairs lubricated with water, microgrooving at all test loads for the pairs lubricated with tetradecane.     

Effect of KMnO4 oxidant additive on solid lubrication of lead-graphite and silver-graphite composites

The purpose of this investigation is to understand the role of KMnO₄ as an oxidant additive on the lubrication properties of a soft metal + graphite composite system, under flat contact sliding conditions where the sliding surfaces interact less with the atmosphere. The sliding tests were made using a ring-on-disk machine, lubricated with Pb or Ag + graphite composite containing different amounts of KMnO₄ additive. The results showed that the addition of KMnO₄ in the composites reduced the friction in air up to temperatures of 500°C. The coefficient of friction was as low as 0.1. This is probably due to the fact that KMnO₄ decomposed during sliding to generate oxygen, which is effective in improving the lubricating ability of graphite. The optimum concentration of KMnO₄ in the solid lubricants (graphite + KMnO₄) was 5–10 vol.%. After decomposition of all oxidant additive in the composite, the coefficient of friction of the composites, however, rose to 0.2–0.3.     

Sliding Wear of an Al Alloy SiC Whisker Composite

The tribological properties of a well-studied powder metallurgy metal-matrix composite, i.e., 20 volume percent SiC whiskers in 2124-T6 Al alloy matrix, were measured for the three principal orthogonal orientations under dry and lubricated sliding contacts. The sliding wear mechanisms were identified through analyses of wear tracks and subsurface microstructure by scanning and transmission electron microscopy techniques. The results for sliding wear of this 2124 Al-SiC whisker composite indicate a much higher wear when dry than when lubricated, and a strong wear anistropy, which is correlated with the ureal fraction of SiC whiskers on the wear plane. SEM and TEM analyses show direct evidence of adhesive wear through plastic deformation for dry sliding and abrasive wear through plowing and polishing for lubricated sliding.     

Sliding friction and wear of Cu–graphite against 2024, AZ91D and Ti6Al4V at different speeds

Cu–graphite composite fabricated by powder metallurgy art is no longer novel material. However, it might be a versatile self-lubricating material sliding against different metals and alloys. In this connection, understanding towards its tribological behavior and wear mechanism is very important. Sliding tribological behaviors of Cu–graphite composite against different counterparts, specified as 2024 aluminium alloy, AZ91D magnesium alloy, and Ti6Al4V titanium alloy, were investigated over varied sliding speeds at room temperature in air. The friction and wear tests were conducted on a pin-on-disk tribo-meter. Tribological performance of Cu–graphite composite strongly depended on its counterpart materials. Cu–graphite composite could provide friction reduction in sliding against 2024 and Ti6Al4V. Cu–graphite composite was a good self-lubricating material in sliding against AZ91D at low speeds but not at 0.25 and 0.50 m/s. Wear mechanism of Cu–Gr composite was related to the transfer, counter-transfer, mechanical mixing and tribo-oxidation at tribo-interface. Sliding speed had influences on tribo-interface and thereby wear mechanism. Finally, the effects of naturally occurred oxide film and sliding speed were discussed.     

Tribological behaviour of thermally sprayed silicon carbide coatings

SiC coatings have been successfully deposited using thermal spray detonation technique with a newly patented feedstock. Their tribological performance was compared to bulk SiC for dry and lubricated conditions (polyalphaolefin and 3.5 wt% NaCl solution). The lowest coefficient of friction (CoF=0.10) and wear-rate were detected with polyalphaolefin lubricant regardless of the test pair due to mixed fluid-film lubrication. Contradicting results were recorded under other test conditions. The coatings show low CoF of 0.20 in comparison to four times higher CoF of bulk SiC under dry sliding. Oppositely, SiC coatings in NaCl solution record five times higher CoF compared to bulk SiC CoF of 0.20. Such behaviour is associated with tribochemical reaction and tribo-corrosion mechanisms occurring in dry and NaCl sliding, respectively.     

Ultra-High Tribological Performance of Magnetron Sputtered a-C:H Films in Sand-Dust Environment

The hydrogenated amorphous carbon (a-C:H) films were prepared on AISI 440C steel substrates using a RF magnetron sputtering graphite target in the CH₄ and Ar mixture atmosphere. The friction and wear behavior of a-C:H films were comparatively investigated by pin-on-disc tester under dry sliding and simulated sand-dust wear conditions. In addition, the effects of applied load, amount of sand and sand particle sizes on the tribological performance of a-C:H films were systemically studied. Results show that a-C:H films exhibited ultra-high tribological performance with low friction coefficient and ultra-low wear rate under sand-dust environments. It is very interesting to observe that the friction coefficient of a-C:H film under sand-dust conditions was relatively lower when compared with dry sliding condition, and the wear rate under sand-dust conditions kept at the same order of magnitude (×10⁻¹⁹ m³/N m) with the increase of applied load and particle size as a comparison with the dry sliding condition. Based on the formation of “ridge” layer (composite transfer layer), a transfer layer-hardening composite model was established to explain the anti-wear mechanisms and friction-reducing capacity of a-C:H solid lubrication films under sand-dust conditions.     

Friction and wear properties of Babbitt alloy 16-16-2 under sea water environment

The tribological behaviors of Babbitt alloy 16-16-2 sliding against aluminum bronze ZCuAl9Mn2 lubricated by sea water were systematically investigated in this paper. The results indicated that the friction coefficient decreased as the load increased to 30 N and then remained at a steady level at high loads, but decreased with increase in sliding speed. The wear rate increased with load, but decreased with sliding speed. The formation of basic lead carbonate Pb₃(OH)₂(CO₃)₂ during the sliding process played a critical role in the remaining low friction coefficient in sea water.     

Sliding wear behavior of planar random zinc-alloy matrix composites

The friction and wear behavior of planar random zinc-alloy matrix composites reinforced by discontinuous carbon fibres under dry sliding and lubricated sliding conditions has been investigated using a block-on-ring apparatus. The effects of fibre volume fractions and loads on the sliding wear resistance of the zinc-alloy matrix composites were studied. Experiments were performed within a load range of 50–300 N at a constant sliding velocity of 0.8 m s⁻¹. The composites with different volume fractions of carbon fibres (0–30%) were used as the block specimens, and a medium-carbon steel used as the ring specimen. Increasing the carbon fibre volume fraction significantly decreased the coefficient of friction and wear rates of both the composites and the medium-carbon steel under dry sliding conditions. Under lubricated sliding conditions, however, increasing the carbon fibre volume fraction substantially increased the coefficient of friction, and slightly increased the wear of the medium-carbon steel, while reducing the wear of the composite.Under dry sliding conditions, an increasing load increased not only the wear rates of both the composite and the unreinforced zinc alloy, but also those of their corresponding steel rings. However, the rate of increase of wear with increasing load for both the composite and its corresponding steel ring was much smaller than for the unreinforced zinc alloy and its corresponding steel ring. The coefficient of friction under dry sliding conditions appeared to be constant as load increased within a load range of 50–150 N for both the composite and the unreinforced zinc alloy, but increased at the higher loads. Under any load the coefficient of friction of the composite was lower than half that of the unreinforced zinc alloy under dry sliding conditions.     

Tribological properties of Si-containing diamond-like carbon film under ATF lubricated condition

Recent years have seen a rise in social needs regarding safety and the environment, and this has placed increasing importance on product development for automotive parts that leads to smaller sizes, higher capacity, and lower costs. Diamond-like carbon (DLC) coating technology is being focused on as an effective solution to such issues.This paper reports on the tribological properties of a Si-containing diamond-like carbon film under an automatic transmission fluid (ATF) lubricated condition, which dramatically improves the performance of an electromagnetic clutch used in electronically controlled All-wheel-drive (AWD) coupling. The Si-containing DLC film maintains its rough sliding surface while simultaneously exhibiting extremely low aggression against mating materials. Thus, the boundary lubrication state of the initial friction stage is maintained, while also displaying a positive μ–v slope with excellent anti-shudder performance and a satisfactory friction coefficient as demanded by the drive train.Based on time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) of sliding surfaces, it was speculated that the mechanism behind the good tribological properties of a sliding material coated with Si-containing DLC film under fluid lubrication are in part connected to the material properties of the DLC-Si film and an adsorbate such as a succinimide-based dispersant.     

Wear behaviour of AE42+20% saffil Mg-MMC

The wear behaviour of AE42 magnesium alloy and AE42+20% saffil short fibre composite is investigated in dry sliding condition using a pin-on-disc set-up in the load range of 5–40 N with sliding speeds of 0.838, 1.676 and 2.513 m/s for a constant sliding distance of 2.5 km. In case of both the alloy and the composite wear rate increases with increasing loads and the wear rate of the composite is lower at lower loads. At all sliding speeds, a crossover in wear rate is observed with the increase in load, i.e., above a certain load the wear rate of the composite becomes greater than that of the alloy, and the crossover shifts to lower loads with increase in the sliding speed. Severe sub-surface plastic deformation and fibre breakage are found to be the dominant mechanism for the unreinforced alloy and the composite, respectively.     

Investigation into sliding wear performance of zinc-based alloy reinforced with SiC particles in dry and lubricated conditions

The objective of the present investigation was to assess the influence of SiC particle dispersion in the alloy matrix, applied load, and the presence of oil and oil plus graphite lubricants on the wear behaviour of a zinc-based alloy. Sliding wear performance of the zinc-based alloy and its composite containing SiC particles has been investigated in dry and lubricated conditions. Base oil or mixtures of the base oil with different percentages of graphite were used for creating the lubricated conditions. Results show a large improvement in wear resistance of the zinc-based alloy after reinforcement with SiC particles. The lubrication improved the wear resistance and friction behaviour of both the reinforced and base alloys. It was also observed that there exists an optimum concentration of graphite particles in the lubricant mixture that leads to the best wear performance. The composite experienced higher frictional heating and friction coefficient than the matrix alloy in all the cases except oil lubricated conditions; a mixed trend was noticed in the latter case. The wear rate and frictional heating increased with load while friction coefficient was affected in an opposite manner. Test duration influenced the frictional heating and friction coefficient of the samples in a mixed manner.Examination of worn surfaces revealed a change of predominating wear mechanisms from severe ploughing and/or abrasive wear for base alloy to delamination wear for the reinforced material under dry sliding conditions. The presence of the lubricant increased the contribution of adhesive wear component while reducing the severity of abrasion. This was attributed to the generation of more stable lubricant films on the contacting surfaces. Cross-sections of worn surfaces indicated substantial wear-induced plastic deformation, thereby suggesting adhesive wear to be a predominant wear mechanism in this study. The debris particles revealed deformed flakes and machining chips signifying the involvement of adhesion and abrasion modes of wear respectively.     

Tribological Properties of a Nano-Eutectic Fe<Subscript>1.87</Subscript>C<Subscript>0.13</Subscript> Alloy Under Water Environment

Tribological properties of a nano-eutectic Fe_1.87C_0.13 alloy were investigated under distilled-water lubrication against AISI52100 steel ball for various applied loads and sliding speeds. For comparison, the tribological behavior of annealed coarse-grained Fe_1.87C_0.13 alloy was also examined under the same testing conditions. Worn surfaces of both alloys were analyzed by using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The wear rate of nano-eutectic Fe_1.87C_0.13 alloy was on the order of 10⁻⁵ mm³/m. The wear rate of nano-eutectic Fe_1.87C_0.13 alloy was higher than that of annealed Fe_1.87C_0.13 alloy at lower load, but lower under higher load. The friction coefficients of the two alloys were similar and exhibited a slight increase with increasing sliding speed, but a small decrease with increasing applied load. The wear mechanism of the nano-eutectic Fe_1.87C_0.13 alloy was transformed from plowing and corrosion wear to slight fatigue cracking with increasing applied load, whereas that of the annealed coarse-grained Fe_1.87C_0.13 alloy was transformed from plowing and corrosion wear to severe fatigue flaking.     

Microstructural and Tribological Properties of A356 Al–Si Alloy Reinforced with Al<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript> Particles

In the present study, the effect of the Al₂O₃ particles (average size of 12 μm, 3 and 10 wt.%) reinforcement on the microstructure and tribological properties of Al–Si alloy (A356) was investigated. Composites were produced by applying compocasting process. Tribological properties of unreinforced alloy and composites were studied, using pin-on-disc tribometer, under dry sliding conditions at different specific loads and sliding speed of 1 m/s. Microhardness measurements, optical microscope and scanning electron microscope were used for microstructural characterization and investigation of worn surfaces and wear debris. During compocasting of A356 alloy, a transformation from a typical dendritic primary α phase to a non-dendritic rosette-like structure occurred. Composites exhibited better wear resistance compared with unreinforced alloy. Presence of 3 wt.% Al₂O₃ particles in the composite material affected the wear resistance only at specific loads up to 1 MPa. The wear rate of composite with 10 wt.% Al₂O₃ particles was nearly two order of the magnitude lower than the wear rate of the matrix alloy. Dominant wear mechanism for all materials was adhesion, with others mechanisms: oxidation, abrasion and delamination as minor ones.     

Friction and wear behaviour of plasma-sprayed Cr2O3 coatings against steel in a wide range of sliding velocities and normal loads

This study investigates the influence of sliding speed and normal load on the friction and wear of plasma-sprayed Cr₂O₃ coatings, in dry and lubricated sliding against AISI D2 steel. Friction and wear tests were performed in a wide speed range of 0.125–8 m/s under different normal loads using a block-on-ring tribometer. SEM, EDS and XPS were employed to identify the mechanical and chemical changes on the worn surfaces. A tangential impact wear model was proposed to explain the steep rising of wear from the minimum wear to the maximum wear. The results show that the wear of Cr₂O₃ coatings increases with increasing load. Secondly, there exist a minimum-wear sliding speed (0.5 m/s) and a maximum-wear sliding speed (3 m/s) for a Cr₂O₃ coating in dry sliding. With the increase of speed, the wear of a Cr₂O₃ coating decreases in the range 0.125–0.5 m/s, then rises steeply from 0.5 m/s to 3 m/s, followed by a decrease thereafter. The large variation of wear with respect to speed can be explained by stick-slip at low speeds, the tangential impact effect at median speeds and the softening effect of flash temperature at high speeds. Thirdly, the chemical compositions of the transfer film are a-Fe₂O₃ in the speed range 0.25–2 m/s, and FeO at 7 m/s. In addition, the wear mechanisms of a Cr₂O₃ coating in dry sliding versus AISI D2 steel are adhesion at low speeds, brittle fracture at median speeds and a mixture of abrasion and brittle fracture at high speeds. Finally the lubricated wear of Cr₂O₃ coating increases sharply from 1 to 2.8 m/s.     

Sliding wear behaviour of aluminum syntactic foam: A comparison with Al-10 wt% SiC composites

The sliding wear behaviour of cenosphere-filled aluminum syntactic foam (ASF) has been studied in comparison with that of 10 wt% SiC particle reinforced aluminum matrix composite (AMC) at a load of 3 kg and varying sliding speeds under dry and lubricated conditions using a pin-on disc test apparatus. The tribological responses such as the wear rate, the coefficient of friction and the frictional heating were investigated. The wear surfaces and subsurfaces were studied for understanding the wear mechanism. It was noted that the coefficient of friction, the wear rate, and the temperature rise for ASF are less than that for AMC in both dry and lubricated conditions. The craters (vis-à-vis exposed cenospheres) play an important role in the wear mechanism for ASF.