Impact of Sliding Speed on the Tribological Behaviors of Cermet and Steel Balls Sliding Against SiC Lubricated with Seawater.

Cermets have been widely used in industry to combat wear and erosion because of their elevated strength and hardness and good wear resistance. This study investigated the tribological properties of WC-6Ni (YN6X), WC-6Co (YG6X), and WC-TiC-Co–Ni (TiCN) cermets during sliding over silicon carbide (SiC) in prepared seawater. Tribological experiments of 440C and GCr15 steel coupled with SiC were conducted for comparison. The influence of sliding speed was examined by multiple sequential increases in speed from 0.1 to 0.4 m s−1. The results showed that the tribological properties of the tribopairs were enhanced with growing sliding speed and were influenced by complex factors including material hardness, wear radius, the lubricating medium environment, and the tribochemical reaction. YN6X performed particularly well due to its high hardness and presence of Ni which effectively reduced the corrosion effect of seawater. However, YG6X showed better wear resistance relative to YN6X in tap water due to its higher hardness. In particular, through an investigation of the wear process of the tribopairs in seawater, this study proposed the coefficient of friction model for cermet/SiC. The results indicated that a combination of YN6X/SiC has excellent potential for application to seawater hydraulic components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]