Effect of Dissolved Oxygen Content on Pin-on-Disc Wear Behavior of Biomedical Co-Cr-Mo Alloys in a Like-on-Like Configuration in Distilled Water

Abstract

The wear behavior of a forged Co-29Cr-6Mo alloy without any Ni and C added has been investigated by using a tribosystem consisting of a pin-on-disc type wear testing machine in distilled water containing different dissolved oxygen content. Dissolved oxygen content in the distilled water was controlled by aerating with oxygen or by deaerating with argon. Wear volume in the distilled water containing high oxygen content is approximately two times larger than in that containing low oxygen content. Accordingly, it is deduced that the overall wear volume is significantly affected by the dissolved oxygen content in the distilled water surrounding the tribosystem. Although abrasive wear, caused by wear debris, is operative as a wear mechanism in the present tribosystem irrespective of oxygen content, the transfer of the wear debris to sliding surfaces, as well as the aggregation of the wear debris on the sliding surfaces, is more prone to occur during the wear process with the lower oxygen content. Therefore, in the present tribosystem with the lower oxygen content, since the transfer of the wear debris to the disc or the pin readily occurs, the generation of the wear debris does not directly contribute to the wear volume, leading to the apparently lower wear volume in the tribosystem with lower oxygen content than in that with higher oxygen content; the transfer of the wear debris is not counted as wear loss because the wear volume is estimated based on the loss in disc and pin weight that occurs during the wear test.