The influence of particle size and velocity on the wear failure of TiC coated Fe under oil extraction conditions: A molecular dynamics study

Abstract

The application of titanium carbide (TiC) coatings, renowned for their exceptional tribological properties, holds promise for the research on failure prevention in downhole petroleum machinery. In this study, molecular dynamics was employed to coat TiC layers onto Fe surfaces to enhance wear resistance. The effects of particle size and velocity on the wear and erosion resistance failure of the entire system were investigated through nanoindentation, scratch tests, and particle impact studies. The results indicate that the influence of particle size on the abrasion resistance and erosion resistance of materials is manifested in the load trend and surface atomic morphology. In the plastic damage of materials, an increase in velocity weakens the accumulation of slip faults and rearrangement phenomena among internal atoms, resulting in irregular fluctuations in the load curve. Meanwhile, the high-speed system will dominate the influence on temperature by accelerating atomic motion, leading to different orders of magnitude of wear and high-temperature atoms in impact simulations compared to particle size. This provides significant reference for the study of protective failure of TiC coatings in complex oil machinery service environments.