Influence of sliding direction changes, contact frequency and Bauschinger effect on the wear of dual phase steels

• Steel discs have been studied under uni- and bi-directional ball-on-disc tests.
• Coefficient of friction and wear rate were higher under unidirectional sliding.
• Bauschinger effect takes place during the bidirectional sliding wear test.
• Bauschinger effect is influenced by both sliding speed and contact frequency.

Friction and wear rate behaviour of dual phase steel discs (DP600) have been studied as a function of sliding speed (0.5–1.25 m/s) and contact frequency (3.5–8.5 Hz) under unidirectional and bidirectional (reversal motion) ball-on-disc dry sliding wear tests. The wear rate is found to be higher under unidirectional sliding. The Bauschinger effect – BE-appears to take place during the bidirectional sliding processes. However, it is only evident when the sliding direction is reversed for some limited times, where the mass loss decreases accompanied a weakened strain-hardening effect. Moreover, the BE in the DP600 steel discs is also affected by both the sliding speed and the contact frequency, but its effect is clearly different.