Friction and Wear of Stainless Steels Implanted with Ti and C

Abstract

ABSTRACTFriction and wear tests were completed on Fe, and stainless steels of the type 304, 15–5 PH, Nitronic 60 and 440C implanted with Ti and C. Samples were mechanically polished prior to ion implantation to fluences of 2 × 1017 Ti/cm2 (90–180 keV) and 2 × 1017 C/cm2 (30 keV); the implantation profiles of the two elements overlapped to 0.1 μm. Light load wear conditions with no lubrication were evaluated in a pin-on-disc configuration. Ion implantation significantly reduced the friction coefficient by up to 75% and decreased the maximum wear depth by up to 95%, but both effects were material and load dependent. Only stainless steel 304 had both friction and wear reduced by implantation for all loads examined. Fine-scale parallel grooves were present in the wear track for light loads, but this wear pattern was transformed to a galled structure at high loads. A correlation existed between decreased friction, reduced wear, the wear track morphology and Ti in the wear track.