Dry sliding wear behavior of an extruded Mg–Dy–Zn alloy with long period stacking ordered phase

The dry sliding wear behavior of extruded Mg-2Dy-0.5Zn alloy (at.%) was investigated using a pin-on-disk configuration. The friction coefficient and wear rate were measured within a load range 20–760 N at a sliding velocity of 0.785 m/s. Microstructure and wear surface of alloy were examined using scanning electron microscopy. The mechanical properties of alloy were tested at room and elevated temperatures. Five wear mechanisms, namely abrasion, oxidation, delamination, thermal softening and melting dominated the whole wear behavior with increasing applied load. The extruded Mg-2Dy-0.5Zn alloy exhibited the better wear resistance as compared with as-cast Mg97Zn1Y2 alloy under the given conditions through contact surface temperature analysis. The improved wear resistance was mainly related to fine grain size, good thermal stability of long period stacking order (LPSO) phase and excellent higher-temperature mechanical properties.