The tribological behaviour of electroless Ni–P–Gr–SiC composite

The tribological behaviour and wear mechanism of Ni–P–Gr (graphite)–SiC (manufactured by electroless plating) is surveyed in this paper. The worn surface, wear debris and the compositional changes that take place during wear were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive analysis of X-ray (EDAX). By comparison with Ni–P–Gr and Ni–P–SiC, the results indicate that hybrid Ni–P–Gr–SiC composite presented well anti-friction and wear resistance which is resulted from a graphite-rich mechanical mixed layer (GRMML) formed on the contact surface. Hard SiC particles mixed with GRMML played a load-bearing role at high load when relative motion occurs. After heat treatment at 400 °C for 1 h, the wear rate of the hybrid composite decreased with an increase in microhardness. During sliding, the temperature of the hybrid composite occured less change than Ni–P–SiC coating and further guaranteed the stable state of the whole wear process.