Comparison of dry sliding tribological behavior of SS 316L impregnated with MoS2 vs h-BN solid lubricants: A statistical point of view

Abstract

The main aim of this paper is to statistically discuss the friction and wear behavior of 316L stainless steel (SS316L) composites added with h-BN and MoS2 solid lubricant under different running conditions at room temperature. The SS316L composites added with h-BN and MoS2 were produced by the powder metallurgy method. The mixture of SS316L composites with 15 and 20 vol% of h-BN and MoS2 were cold compacted into ∅ 30 mm cylinder parts. Then sintered in the sintering furnace under H2 atmosphere for 60 min. Brinell's hardness and dry-sliding wear behavior of the sintered SS316L composites were investigated using a pin-on-disc testing machine. The factorial experimental design was employed to investigate the influence of specific independent variables on dry sliding wear, testing at sliding speeds of 0.1 and 0.2 m/s, applied load of 3 and 5 N and sliding distance varying from 100 to 200 m. The effects of tested variables on the specific wear rate and coefficient of friction were analyzed from both statistic plots and physical analyses of worn surface with SEM micrographs. The results showed that the MoS2 added composite resulted in greater wear resistance than h-BN added composite. The wear resistance and friction coefficient on dry sliding wear test also depended on the interaction effect of sliding distance, sliding speed and applied load which are relative to the formation of tribofilm on sliding interfaces. In addition, sliding speed influence to the formation of tribofilm showed significantly high levels of wear resistance and friction coefficient of composites. The statistical design of this experiment enabled us to collect and analyze wear data which provided a greater understanding of the complex mode/mechanism of sliding wear of SS316L self-lubricating composites.