Tribological behavior of Cu20%Nb and Cu15%Cr in situ composites under dry sliding conditions

The tribological behavior of Cu20%Nb and Cu15%Cr in situ composites was studied on a pin-on-disk tester. Composite pins were slid against a hardened AISI 52100 steel disk under dry ambient conditions. Comparison of coefficient of friction, wear rate and bulk temperature was made between the two composites in terms of effects of normal pressure and sliding speed. Microstructural changes in the composites due to sliding were studied and correlated with the change of tribological behavior. The wear rate increased with increasing normal pressure and decreased with increasing sliding speed in the studied range of normal pressure (0.06–0.56 MPa) and sliding speed (2.50–5.83 m s −1) for both composites. Cu20%Nb showed a much better wear resistance and a lower coefficient of friction than Cu15%Cr. The coefficient of friction slightly increased for Cu20%Nb and slightly decreased for Cu15%Cr with increasing normal pressure. The coefficient of friction for both composites decreased with increasing sliding speed. The bulk temperature was higher and subsurface deformation layer thickness was larger for Cu15%Cr than for Cu20%Nb. Both of them increased with increasing normal pressure and sliding speed. Scanning electron microscopy analysis showed plastic deformation flow on the wear surface at an early stage for both composites. However, the formation of a surface film led Cu20%Nb composite to reach a steady state much sooner and therefore to have a lower wear rate than Cu15%Cr.