Friction and wear response of pulsed electric current sintered TiB2–B4C ceramic composite

•Test parameters have a significant effect on the wear performance of TiB2–B4C.•We model transition mild-severe wear based on Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics.•The mechanical and effective thermal stresses on the surface were considered.•A newly defined effective thermal induced stress in the contact is proposed.•We validate such transition by means of SEM examination of wear track morphologies.

This paper presents the friction and wear behaviour of TiB2–40vol%B4C ceramic composite disc in rotating sliding contact against SiC-ball and examines how the tribological characteristics of this system are affected by the interaction of wear particles, loading conditions and sliding speed. The transition from mild to severe wear is analytically modelled based on Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics theory (LEFM). This model takes into account the mechanical and newly defined effective thermal induced stresses in the contact. The latter considers the Péclet number corresponding to the experimental parameters. Based hereon wear maps are constructed that show the transition in wear mechanisms, further corroborated by extensive SEM observation of the wear tracks.