Fretting wear behavior of Inconel 690 in hydrazine environments

The friction and wear behaviors of Inconel 690 flat against Si3Ni4 ball were investigated using a hydraulic fretting test rig equipped with a liquid container device. The loads of 20-80 N, reciprocating amplitudes of 80-200 μm and two different environments (distilled water and hydrazine solution at temperatures from 25 to 90 °C) were selected. The results show that the ratio of Ft/Fn is lower in distilled water than that in hydrazine solution at the same temperature in the slip regime. Both the ratio of Ft/Fn and wear volume gradually increase with increasing medium temperature under the given normal load and displacement amplitude. Besides the displacement amplitude and load, temperature also plays an important role for wear behavior of Inconel 690 material. The increase of temperature could reduce the concentration of dissolved oxygen, and promote the absorption reaction of hydrazine and dissolved oxygen. As a result, the oxidative corrosion rate is obviously lowered. Abrasive wear and delamination wear are the main mechanisms of Inconel 690 in distilled water. However, in hydrazine solution the cracks accompanied by abrasive wear and delamination wear are the main mechanisms.