Microstructural damage following reciprocating wear of TiC-stainless steel cermets

摘要

High density TiC-based cermets were fabricated using a simple melt-infiltration/sintering method, with three different grades of stainless steel binder. Reciprocating wear tests were conducted using a ball-on-flat geometry, with the test material sliding against a WC-Co counter face. The morphology of the worn surface and wear debris were investigated using SEM and EDS chemical analysis. FIB microscopy was applied to study subsurface damage within the wear tracks, to aid explanation of the operative wear mechanism(s). The wear behaviour is moderately complex, transitioning from two-to three-body abrasive wear, with both steel binder extrusion and TiC fragmentation observed to contribute towards third-body formation. A further transition to adhesive wear is also observed, with tribolayer generation on both tribo pair surfaces.