Tribological behavior of nanocrystalline Fe sub(88)Si sub(12) alloy in vacuum environment

The tribological behavior of nanocrystalline Fe sub(88)Si sub(12) alloy in vacuum environment has been investigated compared with coarse grained counterpart. The results demonstrated that the friction coefficient of the Fe sub(88)Si sub(12) alloy reduced with the decrease of both grain size and oxygen partial pressure. The wear resistance of the Fe sub(88)Si sub(12) alloy improved more effective in vacuum than in air as the grain size decreased. As the hardness and oxidation activity of the Fe sub(88)Si sub(12) alloy decreased, the wear mechanism changed from adhesion and oxidation to plastic deformation and adhesion when the grain size and oxygen partial pressure decreased.