Dependence of fretting wear on the microstructure characteristics and impact on the subsurface stability of a metastable β titanium alloy

The fretting behaviors of a metastable β titanium alloy with three kinds of microstructures were studied. Special attentions have been paid to the underlying wear mechanism mediated by fretting conditions and microstructural features. The wear volume is more sensitive to the stroke amplitude rather than the normal loading. The mixed abrasive-adhesive wear is dominated in all fretting samples. The microstructural features make a significant contribution to the difference in the wear resistance and subsurface microstructure stability. Due to a large difference in the grain size and the ability of plastic deformation in adjacent grains, the SM (single-phase microstructure) sample is more favorable to initiation and propagation of cracks. The DM (duplex microstructure) and BM (basketweave microstructure) samples, however, have a high resistance ability to fretting wear and subsurface microstructure stability. This can be attributed to the large amounts of the β/α interfaces and the dispersed orientation distribution of α precipitates. The present work offers valuable experimental data for the prediction of fatigue life after fretting. •The fretting behaviors are evidenced to connect with coupling effect of microstructural features and fretting conditions.•The fretting wear volume is more sensitive to the stroke amplitude rather than the normal loading.•The microstructural origins of fretting wear mechanisms are illustrated systematically.•Microstructure features dependence on the subsurface microstructure stability is revealed in detail.