Studies of high temperature sliding wear of metallic dissimilar interfaces II: Incoloy MA956 versus Stellite 6

The development of wear surfaces formed during limited debris retention sliding wear of Incoloy MA956 against Stellite 6 between room temperature and 750 °C, and sliding speeds of 0.314 and 0.905 m s⁻¹ (7 N applied load, 4522 m sliding distance) were investigated. At 0.314 m s⁻¹, mild oxidational wear was observed at all temperatures, due to oxidation of Stellite 6-sourced debris and transfer to the Incoloy MA956; this debris separated the Incoloy MA956 and Stellite 6 wear surfaces. Between room temperature and 450 °C, the debris mainly took the form of loose particles with limited compaction, whilst between 510 °C and 750 °C the debris were compacted and sintered together to form a Co–Cr-based, wear protective ‘glaze’ layer. The behaviour was identical to that previously observed on sliding Nimonic 80A versus Stellite 6 at 0.314 m s⁻¹.At 0.905 m s⁻¹, mild oxidational wear was only observed at room temperature and 270 °C and dominated by Incoloy MA956-sourced debris. At 390 and 450 °C, the absence of oxide debris allowed ‘metal-to-metal’ contact and resulted in intermediate temperature severe wear; losses in the form of ejected metallic debris were almost entirely Incoloy MA956-sourced. This severe wear regime was also observed from 510 up to 630 °C, but increasingly restricted to the early stages of wear by development of a wear protective Incoloy MA956-sourced ‘glaze’ layer. This ‘glaze’ layer formed so rapidly at 690 °C and 750 °C, that severe wear was all but eliminated and wear levels were kept low.The behaviour observed for Incoloy MA956 versus Stellite 6 at 0.905 m s⁻¹ contrasts sharply with that previously observed for Nimonic 80A versus Stellite 6, in that the Incoloy MA956-sourced high Fe–Cr debris formed a protective oxide ‘glaze’, whilst the Nimonic 80A-sourced Ni and Cr oxides formed an abrasive oxide that at high sliding speeds assisted wear. The data indicates that the tendency of oxide to form a ‘glaze’ is readily influenced by the chemistry of the oxides generated.     

Wear behaviour of hardfaced Fe-Cr-C alloy and austenitic steel under 2-body and 3-body conditions at elevated temperature

Fe-based hardfacing alloys are widely used to protect machinery equipment exposed to different loading situations where abrasives play a dominant role in restricting lifetime of tools. Wear at elevated temperatures is superposed by the effect of oxidation of the wearing surface. In view of the above, two hardfacing alloys based on Fe-Cr-C incorporating Nb, Mo and B to ensure improved performances at elevated temperature were deposited onto mild steel under optimised gas metal arc welding (GMAW) condition. 2-body erosive wear behaviour was evaluated from room temperature up to 650 °C under 30° and 90° impact angle. For 3-body impact/abrasion conditions tests were done with a specially designed cyclic impact abrasion tester (CIAT) at room temperature and 600 °C. The wear behaviour of the hardfacings was compared with austenitic stainless steel. Results indicate that 2-body erosive wear rate of the hardfacing increases with test temperature and with increase in impact angle, whereas wear behaviour of the austenitic stainless steel is non-sensitive to the testing temperature at normal impact. In 3-body impact abrasion testing similar behaviour can be seen; cyclic tests in CIAT at enhanced temperatures result in breaking of coarse carbides, whereas wear mechanisms of the austenitic steel result in massive abrasion and formation of a mechanically mixed layer (MML).     

Development of a simple ‘temperature versus sliding speed’ wear map for the sliding wear behaviour of dissimilar metallic interfaces

The variation in wear behaviour during limited debris retention sliding wear of Nimonic 80A versus Stellite 6 (counterface) between room temperature and 750 °C, at sliding speeds of 0.314, 0.654 and 0.905 m s⁻¹, was investigated. At 0.314 m s⁻¹, mild oxidational wear was observed at all temperatures, due to transfer and oxidation of Stellite 6-sourced debris to the Nimonic 80A and resultant separation of the Nimonic 80A and Stellite 6 wear surfaces. Between room temperature and 450 °C, this debris mostly remained in the form of loose particles (with only limited compaction), whilst between 510 and 750 °C, the particles were compacted and sintered together to form a wear protective ‘glaze’ layer.At 0.654 and 0.905 m s⁻¹, mild oxidational wear due to transfer and oxidation of Stellite 6-sourced debris was only observed at room temperature and 270 °C (also 390 °C at 0.654 m s⁻¹). At 390 °C (450 °C at 0.654 m s⁻¹) and above, this oxide was completely absent and ‘metal-to-metal’ contact resulted in an intermediate temperature severe wear regime—losses in the form of ejected metallic debris were sourced almost completely from the Nimonic 80A. Oxide debris, this time sourced from the Nimonic 80A sample, did not reappear until 570 °C (630 °C at 0.654 m s⁻¹), however, were insufficient to eliminate completely severe wear until 690 and 750 °C. At both 0.654 and 0.905 m s⁻¹, the oxide now preventing severe wear at 690 and 750 °C tended not to form ‘glaze’ layers on the surface of the Nimonic 80A and instead supported continued high wear by abrasion. This abrasive action was attributed to the poor sintering characteristics of the Nimonic 80A-sourced oxide, in combination with the oxides’ increased mobility and decreased residency.The collected data were used to compose a simple wear map detailing the effects of sliding speed and temperature on the wear of Nimonic 80A slid against Stellite 6, at these speeds and temperatures of between room temperature and 750 °C.     

Tribological behavior of Stellite 21 modified with yttrium

Cobalt-base alloys have found a wide variety of tribological applications particularly at elevated temperatures or in corrosive environments in many industries, such as aerospace, automotive, power and gas turbines. One of the standard Co-base alloys, Stellite 21, is used predominantly to resist the synergistic effects of corrosion and mechanical attack, especially at elevated temperatures and continuing efforts have been made to improve its properties. One approach is to add reactive elements, such as yttrium, in order to beneficially affect its oxidation behavior.Research was conducted to investigate the effects of Y additions on Stellite 21 on its microstructure, mechanical behavior, and high-temperature wear performance. These studies employed various experimental tools, such as micro-mechanical probe, XRD, SEM, EDS, and high-temperature tribometer. The effects of Y addition on the properties of the oxide film formed on Stellite 21 were also investigated using grazing XRD and nano-mechanical probing techniques.It has been demonstrated that Y additions benefited the wear behavior of Stellite 21, especially at elevated temperatures. The oxide scale developed at 600 °C also showed markedly enhanced mechanical properties when Y was alloyed to the alloy.     

Several plasma diffusion processes for improving wear properties of Ti6Al4V alloy

Different kinds of diffusion processes, plasma nitriding, oxidizing and oxynitriding as of a combination of other two, have been applied to Ti6Al4V alloy to evaluate the effect of treatment times (1 and 4 h) and temperatures (650 and 750 °C) on wear properties of the alloy. It was observed that a hard modified layer was produced on the surface of the alloy after each diffusion process. While TiN and Ti₂N phases form in the modified layer with plasma nitriding, mainly TiO₂ phase forms after plasma oxidizing treatment. The wear tests performed at different normal loads showed that all treated samples, except for nitrided and oxidized at 650 °C for 1 h, exhibited higher wear resistance than untreated Ti6Al4V alloy. The plasma nitrided samples showed adhesive wear. On the other hand, while the plasma oxidizing samples displayed adhesive wear at lower loads, wear mechanism changed to abrasive wear as the load increased because the oxide film which covers the surface was broken during the sliding at higher loads.     

Studies of high temperature sliding wear of metallic dissimilar interfaces

The evolution of microstructures in the glaze layer formed during limited debris retention sliding wear of Nimonic 80A against Stellite 6 at 750 °C and a sliding speed of 0.314 m s⁻¹ (7 N applied load, 4522 m sliding distance) was investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive analysis by X-ray (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The collected data indicate the development of a wear resistant nano-structured glaze layer. The process of ‘fragmentation’ involving deformation, generation of dislocations, formation of sub-grains and their increasing refinement causing increasing misorientation was responsible for the formation of nano-structured grains. The rapid formation of this glaze layer from primarily cobalt–chromium debris transferred from (and also back to) the surface of the Stellite 6, kept wear of both the Nimonic 80A and Stellite 6 to very low levels.However, increasing the sliding speed to 0.905 m s⁻¹ (750 °C) suppressed glaze formation with only a patchy, unstable glaze forming on the Stellite 6 counterface and an absence of glaze development on the Nimonic 80A sample (the Nimonic 80A surface was covered with at most, a very thinly smeared layer of oxide). The high levels of oxide debris generated at 0.905 m s⁻¹ instead acted as a loose abrasive assisting wear of especially the Nimonic 80A. This behaviour was attributed to a change in oxide chemistry (due to the dominance of nickel and chromium oxides generated from the Nimonic 80A) resulting in poor oxide sintering characteristics, in combination with increased mobility and reduced residency of the oxide debris at 0.905 m s⁻¹.     

Studies of high temperature sliding wear of metallic dissimilar interfaces IV: Nimonic 80A versus Incoloy 800HT

Wear variations of Nimonic 80A slid against Incoloy 800HT between room temperature (RT) and 750 °C, and sliding speeds of 0.314 and 0.905 m s⁻¹ were investigated using a ‘reciprocating-block-on-cylinder’, low debris retention configuration. These were considered alongside previous observations at 0.654 m s⁻¹.Different wear types occurring were mapped, including high transfer ‘severe wear’ (RT and 270 °C, also 0.905 m s⁻¹ at ≤570°C), low transfer ‘severe wear’ (0.314 m s⁻¹ at 390 °C to 510 °C oxide abrasion assisted at 510 °C), and ‘mild wear’ (0.314 m s⁻¹ at ≥570 °C; 0.905 m s⁻¹ at ≥630 °C). Wear surfaces at 750 °C were cross-sectioned and profiled.     

On the wear characteristics of cobalt-based hardfacing layer after thermal fatigue and oxidation

High temperature wear characteristics of Stellite 6 alloy containing Cr₃C₂ after thermal fatigue and oxidation treatment at 700°C were investigated. The hardfacing layer was deposited by plasma transferred arc (PTA) process. After thermal fatigue treatment, cracks propagated along boundaries of incoherent chromium carbide particles. Significant oxidation occurred mainly on the clad layer containing Cr₃C₂. The wear test results revealed a slightly higher wear volume on Stellite 6 with Cr₃C₂ due to the existence of cracks. The formation of oxide on the surface could effectively reduce the wear volume by reducing the real contact area between mating surfaces. Lower sliding speed resulted in higher wear volume. The mechanism was interpreted by the friction coefficient change during sliding wear. Wear test results were further interpreted by investigating the wear trace via SEM. Possible wear mechanisms were postulated. Analysis of wear debris showed severe oxidation on the Stellite 6 with Cr₃C₂. It could be concluded that oxidation on the clad layer was beneficial to the wear resistance at elevated temperature. Thermal fatigue cracking on the surface might be detrimental to the wear resistance, however, this could be partly compensated by the existence of oxide.     

Low-Stress Abrasive Wear Behaviour of a 0.2% C Steel: Influence of Microstructure and Test Parameters

A low (0.2%) carbon steel has been subjected to heat treatment to form varying quantities of ferrite plus martensite in its microstructure. This was achieved by holding the samples in the two-phase (ferrite plus austenite) region at three different temperatures (750, 780, and 810°C) for a specific duration followed by quenching in ice water. In another exercise, the steel was also subjected to annealing treatment by austenitizing at 890°C followed by furnace cooling for comparison purposes. The samples were subjected to low-stress (three-body) abrasion tests using an ASTM rubber wheel abrasion test apparatus at different wheel speeds (150, 273 and 400rpm corresponding to linear speeds of 1.79, 3.26 and 4.78m/s respectively) for different sliding distances at a fixed load of 49N. Crushed silica sand particles of size ranging from 212 to 300 m were used as the abrasive medium. The wear rate of samples decreased progressively with sliding distance until a (nearly) steady-state condition was attained. This was considered to be due to abrasion-induced work hardening of subsurface regions as well as the greater tendency of protrusion of the harder martensite/pearlite phase at longer sliding distances, thereby providing greater resistance to wear. Decreasing wear rate with increasing treatment temperature 750–810°C could be attributed to the greater volume fraction of the hard martensite phase in the samples containing ferrite plus martensite. The lower wear rate observed in the case of the samples containing ferrite plus martensite over the annealed ones comprising ferrite and pearlite was attributed to the higher bulk hardness of the former. Increasing linear speed from 1.79 to 3.26m/s led to an increase in wear rate. This could be attributed to greater tendency of the abrasive particles to create deeper scratches and scouping (digging). A reduction in wear rate with a further increase in the linear speed from 3.26 to 4.78m/s could be due to a change in the mechanism of wear from predominantly sliding to rolling of the abrasive particles in view of the increased plastic deformability characteristics of the specimens due to higher frictional heating. The present investigation clearly suggests that it is possible to attain a desired combination of bulk hardness and microstructure (consisting of ferrite plus martensite) leading to optimum abrasion resistance in low-carbon steels. The quantity of the two phases in turn could be varied by suitably controlling the heat-treatment temperature.     

Room and high temperature wear behaviors of nickel and cobalt base weld overlay coatings on hot forging dies

The lifetime of dies used for production of forged parts is variable and determined by wear rate, plastic deformation, thermal and mechanical fatigue. These tools are subjected to extreme temperature at high unit pressures for short durations and must withstand multiple cycles while maintaining dimensional stability. This paper is an investigation into the use of nickel and cobalt base superalloys as wear resistant hardfacing materials on H11 tool steel. Three weld overlay alloys including Inconel 625, Stellite 6 and Stellite 21 were deposited on H11 steel substrates using tungsten inert gas welding (TIG) process. Wear tests were carried out using a pin-on-disk wear tester at room temperature and 550 °C. Microhardness of the weld overlays was obtained and the worn surfaces were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results of the laboratory tests were then compared with the results obtained from field studies. The results showed a much lower wear at high temperature with the weld overlays due to formation of smooth compacted oxide layers on the wear surfaces. Inconel 625 showed the best wear behavior among the weld overlays at high temperature.     

Studies of high temperature sliding wear of metallic dissimilar interfaces III: Incoloy MA956 versus Incoloy 800HT

Wear variations of Incoloy MA956 slid against Incoloy 800HT between room temperature and 750 °C, and sliding speeds of 0.314, 0.654 and 0.905 m s⁻¹ were investigated using a ‘reciprocating block-on-cylinder’ (low debris retention) configuration.Three forms of wear depending largely on sliding temperature were observed: ‘severe wear’ with high transfer between room temperature and 270 °C, ‘severe wear’ with low transfer between 390 and 570 °C and ‘glaze formation’ (retarded by increased sliding speed) at 630 °C and above. The differences in wear behaviour are discussed, with wear behaviour mapped and wear surfaces at 750 °C (0.314 and 0.905 m s⁻¹) cross-sectioned and profiled.     

Effects of microstructure and experimental parameters on high stress abrasive wear behaviour of a 0.19 wt% C dual phase steel

The present investigation is aimed at understanding the influence of the size and quantity of ferrite plus martensite on mechanical and abrasive wear properties in a 0.19 wt% C dual phase steel. The results indicate that the mechanical properties like strength, ductility and impact, as well as abrasion resistance of the samples are greatly influenced by the material and test conditions. For example, the samples involving prior annealing showed higher ductility but less strength over the normalized specimens. Also, the increasing intercritical annealing temperature led to superior strength associated with reduced ductility. The wear rate increased with load and abrasive size due to a larger depth of cut made by the abrasive medium. The wear rate decreased as sliding distance increased. The steel subjected to prior normalizing treatment attained superior wear resistance to that of the one subjected to prior annealing treatment. The wear rate also decreased with increasing intercritical annealing temperature from 765 to 805 °C with an exception that the steel treated at 805 °C exhibited wear rate comparable to the one treated at 765 °C when tested against coarser size (40 μm) abrasive.     

Synthesis and evaluation of mechanical and high temperature tribological properties of in-situ Al-TiC composites

In situ Al-TiC (5, 10 and 15 wt%) composites were produced by using a reaction mixture of K₂TiF₆ and graphite powder with molten metal. The effect of ceramic particulate addition on the high temperature sliding wear resistance of the composites was studied. The sliding wear tests were conducted at room temperature, 120 and 200 °C. The wear rate increases with the increase in applied load and decreases with increase in the weight percentage of TiC. Both monolithic and composites were able to withstand thermal softening effects due to the formation of oxidative protective transfer layer.     

Oxidation-abrasion of TiC-based cermets in SiC medium

The aim of the current study was to investigate the effect of oxidation on abrasive wear behaviour of TiC based cermets at temperatures ranging from 20 to 900 °C. Three types of material performance maps were constructed: oxidation rate maps, wear rate maps and maps showing the effect of oxidation on abrasion. Discussion on the performance of different cermet grades is supported by the SEM images combined with EDS and XRD analysis. The results should facilitate the selection of TiC-based cermets providing optimum composition of cermets for high temperature applications.     

Belt abrasion resistance and cutting tool studies on new ultra-hard boride materials

Composites of AlMgB₁₄ with 0, 30, and 70 wt% of TiB₂ were prepared by mechanical alloying and hot pressing. The composites’ belt abrasion resistance and cutting tool performance were measured by gravimetric analysis of material removal at varying loads and cutting speeds. AlMgB₁₄-70 wt% TiB₂ composites had high hardness and fracture toughness and the highest abrasive resistance of the three compositions. Cutting tool performance of AlMgB₁₄-70 wt% TiB₂ showed low wear due to chipping and little reaction with the Ti-6Al-4V work-piece. Subsurface damage and adhesion of the work-piece onto the tool material were gauged by SEM.     

Wear Mechanisms at High Temperatures. Part 1: Wear Mechanisms of Different Fe-Based Alloys at Elevated Temperatures

To extend the lifetime of the sinter grate used to crush the sinter cake into smaller pieces for steel fabrication, a study was undertaken to investigate which wear processes are primarily responsible for limiting the lifetime of the sinter grate. Several wear processes could be identified. The sinter temperature which is up to 800 °C causes temperature-induced material ageing and oxidation. The falling of the sinter cake onto the sinter grate causes high impacts, erosion and abrasive wear. There is enormous economic pressure, which makes the most cost-efficient solution the most attractive one, not the technically “best” coating material; thus, Fe–Cr–C hardfacing alloys are mostly used. In view of the above, four different alloys which are promising for this application were studied with regard to their wear resistance. Each wear mechanism was investigated in a special test tribometer. Fatigue wear caused by multiple impacts and abrasion was tested in the high-temperature continuous impact abrasion test. Materials behaviour in heavy single impacts was evaluated in the single impact test. Characterisation of microstructure and wear behaviour was performed by optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The results obtained with the help of the different measurement techniques were linked and set into comparison to calculate the volumetric wear of the specimen. Aim of this work was to investigate the influence of the material parameters such as macrohardness, hard phase content, microstructure coarseness on the wear resistance in impact loading and abrasive applications at high temperatures. Results also indicate that the matrix ability to bind carbides at high temperature as well as the matrix hardness at high temperatures strongly influence the wear resistance in the different tests. Those material parameters get correlated to the wear rates in different material demands. The test results indicate that at higher temperatures material fatigue becomes a major wear-determining factor which makes the matrix hardness and the matrix ability to bind carbides at high temperatures very important. Especially, in abrasive wear, a certain content of hard phases is also necessary to keep the wear to a lower level. It could also be shown that in impact loading applications, a coarse microstructure is a disadvantage.     

The corrosion-wear behaviour of thermally oxidised CP-Ti and Ti-6Al-4V

The use of commercial purity titanium (CP-Ti) and Ti-6Al-4V alloys in bio-medical implant applications has been limited by their poor resistance to surface degradation processes. In this paper the corrosion-wear behaviour of untreated and thermally oxidised CP-Ti and Ti-6Al-4V have been compared. Oxidation of both alloys at 625 °C for 36 h resulted in the formation of an exterior layer of TiO₂ (rutile) that had a hardness ∼1000 HV. Corrosion-wear tests were made in reciprocation sliding contact with an α-Al₂O₃ ball immersed in physiological saline (0.89% NaCl) at room temperature. The oxidation treatment retarded the corrosion-wear of both CP-Ti and Ti-6Al-4V. For the untreated alloys, surface damage was dominated by micro-asperity shearing which resulted in rapid wear. Corrosion-wear of the oxidised materials was slower but more complex. The exterior TiO₂ layer formed on the oxidised Ti-6Al-4V alloy provided little protection, it was rapidly removed during the first 60 min of testing, by a process involving interfacial fracture. Conversely, the TiO₂ layer, albeit thinner, provided protection for the oxidised CP-Ti. Here, the layer becomes smoothly worn by a process that is proposed to be caused by the mechanical dissociation of the TiO₂-layer. For both oxidised titanium alloys the hardened oxygen diffusion zone (ODZ), formed beneath the TiO₂ layer, provided good protection from corrosion-wear. In both cases the ODZ was smoothly worn by a combination of abrasion and corrosion-wear processes. The latter process, termed Type I corrosion-wear, involves the repetitive mechanical degradation of the passive film that forms through aqueous corrosion. However, this is a relatively slow process.     

Relations between oxidative wear and Cr content of steels

Dry sliding wear tests at 25-400 °C were performed for 45, 4Cr5MoSiV1 and 3Cr13 steels; the relations between oxidative wear and Cr content of steels were explored. The low and medium-Cr steels had a substantially lower wear rate and increasing tendency than the high-Cr steel at 25-200 °C, but the contrary case occurred at 400 °C. With an increase of ambient temperature, the wear rate of the low and medium-Cr steels first decreased, then increased and reached the lowest value at 200 °C, while the wear rate of the high-Cr steel decreased monotonously with the lowest value at 400 °C. At 25 °C, trace tribo-oxides reduced wear to some extent in adhesive-dominated wear for the low and medium-Cr steels. At 200 °C, a small amount of tribo-oxides formed and reached a thickness of 10 μm on contacting asperities in the low and medium-Cr steels, thus oxidative mild wear prevailed. At 400 °C, a great amount of tribo-oxides appeared in the low and medium-Cr steels; unexpectedly, the high-Cr steel had more tribo-oxides than the low or medium-Cr steels in some cases. Its high wear resistance may be attributed to Cr-strengthened adhesion power of tribo-oxides and matrix.     

Tribological performance of A206 aluminum alloy containing silica sand particles

The dry-sliding tribological behavior of A206 aluminum alloy containing silica sand was investigated using a three pin-on-disk tribometer against an SAE 1045 steel counterface. The worn surfaces of the pins were then analyzed by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The test results showed that the addition of silica sand particles decreased the friction coefficient of Mg modified A206 alloy. The wear rate of the composites increased with increases in the applied pressure from 0.35 to1.75 MPa and with increases in the silica sand content from 0% to 13%. The wear rate variation with the applied pressure is attributed to the shift in the dominant wear mechanisms from oxidation and mild abrasive wear at applied pressures at and below 0.35 MPa to delamination accompanied by severe abrasive wear at applied pressure levels above 0.35 MPa. The high wear rate may be as a result of an overall decrease of the fracture toughness of the composites containing silica particles. The temperature near the counterface surface increased with increases in both silica content and the applied pressure due to the lower thermal conductivity of silica sand and greater abrasion that occurs at higher silica contents. A T6 heat treatment did not significantly decrease the friction coefficient or the wear rate of either the A206 matrix alloys or the composite containing silica sand.     

Investigation into the wear behaviour of Stellite 6 during rotation as an unlubricated bearing at 600 °C

The wear behaviour of Stellite 6 was studied during rotational sliding in a bespoke bearing rig at 600 °C for times between 2 min and 12 h. Six stages of wear were identified: (i) formation of a mixed oxide ‘glaze’, (ii) cobalt and chromium elemental diffusion to the ‘glaze’ surface forming chromium- and cobalt-dominated oxide layers, (iii) oxygen diffusion into the ‘glaze’ leading to a chromium-dominated oxide layer at the ‘glaze’/substrate interface, (iv) spallation of the ‘glaze’ through chemical failure, (v) re-formation of the ‘glaze’ and (vi) elemental diffusion within the ‘glaze’, again resulting in discrete oxide layer formation.