Friction and wear properties of Fe7Mo6- and αFeSi2-based alloys in rapeseed oil

In this study, Fe7Mo6-based alloy disk specimens with a composition of Fe-42at% Mo, αFeSi2-based alloy disk specimens with a composition of Fe-70.5at% Si, and Fe disk specimens were prepared by spark plasma sintering, and their friction and wear properties were investigated by sliding them against AISI 52100 steel and Si3N4 ball specimens in rapeseed oil. The Fe7Mo6-based alloy disk specimens exhibited stable friction coefficients as low as 0.10 when they were slid against the AISI 52100 steel and Si3N4 ball specimens. The αFeSi2-based alloy/AISI 52100 steel tribopairs exhibited stable friction coefficients as low as 0.07 up to 0.90 ks after starting their friction and wear tests, although their friction coefficients increased to 0.09 with increasing the testing time more than 0.90 ks after starting their friction and wear tests. Moreover, the Fe disk specimens exhibited the lowest friction coefficients (0.08–0.09) of all the disk specimens when sliding against the Si3N4 ball specimens.

► Fe7Mo6-based alloy disk specimens exhibited stable and low friction coefficients.
► αFeSi2/steel tribopair showed low friction just after starting the friction tests.
► Fe/Si3N4 traibopairs exhibited stable friction coefficients as low as 0.08–0.09.