Analysis of the micro-abrasive wear behavior of an iron aluminide alloy under ambient and high-temperature conditions

This study examines the micro-abrasive wear behavior of an iron aluminide alloy to determine correlations between the abrasive wear modes, volume of wear (V), and coefficient of friction (µ). Experiments were conducted with a specimen of Fe-30Al-6Cr (at.%) iron aluminide alloy, a sphere of AISI 52100 bearing steel and abrasive slurries prepared with black silicon carbide (SiC) particles and glycerin. Different levels of sliding distance (S), normal force (N), abrasive slurry concentration (C), and temperature of test (Te) were used for the micro-abrasive wear tests by rotative ball; during the experiments, the abrasive slurry was continuously agitated and fed between the sphere and the specimen, and, in parallel, the normal (N) and the tangential (T) forces were simultaneously monitored. Subsequently, the volume of the craters and the coefficient of friction acting in the tribological system “sphere-abrasive particles-specimen” were calculated. The results showed that i) the abrasive wear mode reported for all wear craters was rolling abrasion, independent of the temperature; ii) the temperature has an important effect on the behavior of the volume of wear and the coefficient of friction; and iii) with an increase in the temperature, a decrease in the volume of wear and the coefficient of friction was observed.