Dry-sliding Tribological Properties of Nano-Eutectic Fe83B17 Alloy

Abstract

This paper reports the tribological performance of the nano-eutectic Fe83B17 alloy under dry sliding against Si3N4 ceramic ball in ambient environment with varying applied loads and sliding speeds. Worn surfaces of the nano-eutectic Fe83B17 alloy were examined with a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and an X-ray energy dispersive spectroscope (EDS). The wear debris of the samples were also analyzed by X-ray diffractometer (XRD). The wear rate of the nano-eutectic Fe83B17 alloy was of the magnitude of 10−4 mm3/m, which was lower than that of the coarse grained Fe83B17 alloy. The friction coefficient of the nano-eutectic Fe83B17 alloy was almost the same as that of the coarse grained Fe83B17 alloy. The Fe2SiO4 oxide layer was formed on the worn surface of the nano-eutectic Fe83B17 alloy. However, on the worn surface of the coarse grained Fe83B17 alloy was found only a little Fe2SiO4. These results demonstrated that the nanostructure improved the wear resistance of the Fe83B17 alloy, but did not significantly affect the friction coefficient. The wear mechanism of the nano-eutectic Fe83B17 alloy was delamination abrasion mainly.