Friction and wear behaviour of Ni-Cr-B hardface coating on 316LN stainless steel in liquid sodium at elevated temperature

Abstract

The sliding friction and wear behaviour of Ni-Cr-B hardface coating made on 316LN stainless steel were evaluated in liquid sodium at 823 K by using a fabricated reciprocating-type tribometer. The test parameters have been selected based on operational conditions prevailing in the Indian sodium cooled fast breeder reactors (FBRs). Accordingly, the tests were carried out at sliding speeds of 2 and 16 mm/s under contact stresses of 10 and 40 MPa respectively using Ni-Cr-B coated pin and disc specimens. The static and dynamic friction coefficients are found to be in the ranges of 0.03–0.07 and 0.01–0.02 respectively under the imposed test conditions. The estimated wear rates (WR) are found to be in the range of 0.62 × 10−12 − 3.07 × 10−12 m3/m; the magnitude of WR increases with increase in the contact stress. The examination of the worn disc specimens by confocal laser scanning microscopy indicated higher damage in specimens tested at 40 MPa compared to that in specimens tested at 10 MPa; the quantitative estimation of damage was made by the number of scars and their depth. These observations corroborate well with the morphological features of the worn surfaces of the pin specimens examined by scanning electron microscopy. The results unambiguously indicate superior friction coefficients and wear resistance of Ni-Cr-B coatings in liquid sodium compared to that in air under identical test conditions.