A study on friction and wear characteristics of Fe–Cu–Sn alloy with MoS? as solid lubricant under dry conditions

摘要

Iron-based alloys are materials of choice for engineering applications such as bearings and gears owing to their low cost, ease of manufacture, high strength, availability, and good wear resistance and low coefficient of friction. In this study, Fe–Cu–Sn composite containing varying percentage of molybdenum disulfide (MoS?) is developed using simple single stage compaction and sintering. The friction and wear behaviors of these composites were studied ball-on-disc tribometer in which EN8 steel ball was used. It was found that with the increase in percentage of MoS? from 0 to 3 wt% the coefficient of friction and wear ratesubstantially decreases from around 0.85 to 0.25. The wear mechanism in base composition (0% MoS?) is observed to be adhesive and abrasive, whereas mild abrasive wear was observed in the 3 wt% MoS? composite.The hardness of composite was also found to improve with the increase in MoS? weight fraction.