Friction and wear response of pulsed electric current sintered TiB sub(2)-B sub(4)C ceramic composite

This paper presents the friction and wear behaviour of TiB sub(2)-40vol%B sub(4)C ceramic composite disc in rotating sliding contact against SiC-ball and examines how the tribological characteristics of this system are affected by the interaction of wear particles, loading conditions and sliding speed. The transition from mild to severe wear is analytically modelled based on Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics theory (LEFM). This model takes into account the mechanical and newly defined effective thermal induced stresses in the contact. The latter considers the Peclet number corresponding to the experimental parameters. Based hereon wear maps are constructed that show the transition in wear mechanisms, further corroborated by extensive SEM observation of the wear tracks.