Friction and wear properties of spark-plasma-sintered α-AlB12 and SiB6 powder compacts in water

• α-AlB12 powder compacts exhibited friction coefficients lower than 0.1 in water.
• SiB6 powder compacts also exhibited friction coefficients lower than 0.1 in water.
• Both the α-AlB12 and SiB6 powder compacts exhibited high wear resistance in water.

In our present study, α-AlB12 and SiB6 powder compact disk specimens were prepared by spark plasma sintering α-AlB12 and SiB6 powders, respectively, and their X-ray diffraction patterns, microstructures, Knoop hardnesses were examined. Also, the friction and wear properties of the α-AlB12 and SiB6 powder compact disk specimens were investigated when they were slid against Si3N4 ball specimens in water. Both the α-AlB12 and SiB6 powder compact disk specimens exhibited friction coefficients lower than 0.1 while the blended elemental Al-92.3 at% B and Si-85.7 at% B powder compact disk specimens exhibited friction coefficients between 0.1 and 0.2. The specific wear rates of the α-AlB12 and SiB6 powder compact disk specimens were lower than those of the blended elemental Al-92.3 at% B and Si-85.7 at% B powder compact disk specimens, respectively.