Wear and Friction Characteristics of a Selected Stainless Steel

Abstract

Dry sliding wear tests were performed for 3Cr13 steel with various tempered states at 25–400°C; wear and friction characteristics as well as the wear mechanism were explored. With an increase in test temperature, the wear rate decreased accompanied by an increase in tribo-oxides. The fluctuation of friction coefficient was slight at 25–200°C but became violent at 400°C. At 25–200°C, adhesive wear prevailed due to trace or less tribo-oxides; at 400°C, oxidative wear prevailed with the predominant tribo-oxides of Fe₃O₄ and Fe₂O₃. It can be suggested that the antioxidation of the stainless steel postponed the occurrence of oxidative wear to a higher test temperature. For adhesive wear, the wear resistance, roughly following Archard's rule, was directly proportional to hardness besides the specimen tempered at 500°C with grain boundary brittleness. But for elevated-temperature wear, a better wear resistance required thermal stability and an appropriate combination of hardness and toughness.

KEY WORDS:

• Unlubricated Friction
• Stainless Steels
• Oxidative Wear

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51071078) and the Natural Science Fund of Jiangsu Province (No. BK2009221).

Review led by Jack Poley