Sliding tribocorrosion behavior of bulk metallic glass against bearing steel in 3.5% NaCl solution

Using a pin-on-disk tribometer with a three electrode system, a BMG-steel tribo-pair composed by Zr-based bulk metallic glass (BMG) Zr55Cu30Ni5Al10 and AISI 52100 steel were studied to reveal the sliding tribocorrosion behavior of BMG against bearing steel in 3.5% NaCl solution. With the increase of applied load or sliding velocity, the wear rate of BMG was increased and the BMG surface gradually crystallized. Furthermore, crystallization leads to better wear resistance and lower coefficient of friction (COF), but worse corrosion resistance. Compared with AISI 304 stainless steel (SS), BMG not only has better tribocorrosion resistance in NaCl solution but also is beneficial to reduce the wear of bearing steel disk in the tribo-pair.