Effect of load on friction and wear behaviors of alumina matrix ceramic guideway materials

According to the tensile crack model, a simple model for tribological behaviors of diopside/AlTiB toughened alumina matrix ceramic guideway materials, predicting the relationship between load and wear rate, was presented. 45# steel ring was used as the counterpart. Mechanical properties and wear properties of the guideway materials under different loads were investigated. SEM micrographs of wear tracks on typical specimens were studied. Results showed that the experimental data described in this paper were in accordance with the theoretical prediction. Introduction of diopside and AlTiB master alloys in alumina matrix ceramic guideway materials improved their mechanical properties, friction and wear properties. The wear rate of pure alumina was in the order of 10−15 m3/N·m while that of guideway materials toughened by diopside and AlTiB master alloys was in the order of 10−16 m3/N·m. The wear mechanisms of pure alumina may be brittle fracture and grain pull-out. The dominant wear mechanisms of alumina matrix ceramic guideway materials toughened by diopside and AlTiB master alloys may be mechanical interlocking and plastic deformation combined with a little micro-fracture and grain pull-out. •Advanced structural alumina matrix ceramic guideway materials were fabricated by pressureless sintering technology.•A simple model predicting the relationship between load and wear rate was presented.•The fabricated guideway materials exhibit improved mechanical properties and tribological behaviors.