Investigation on wear characteristics of a titanium alloy/steel tribo-pair

Abstract

Dry sliding wear tests of a titanium alloy against AISI 52100 steel as a tribo-pair were performed under 50–250N at 25–600°C. The wear characteristics of the titanium alloy and the counterface steel were investigated. The results showed that tribo-layers always existed on the worn surfaces of titanium alloy (pins) and steel (disks) in various test conditions. At 25–200°C, the titanium alloy presented much higher wear rate than the steel. As the temperature increased to 400–600°C, the wear rate was substantially reduced to very low values for both of the titanium alloy and steel. For titanium alloy (pins), the severe-to-mild wear transition was attributed to the formation of tribo-layers containing tribo-oxides, especially Fe2O3. The tribo-pair of the titanium alloy sliding against AISI 52100 steel was suggested to an ideal sliding system for elevated-temperature applications.