The impact of sliding environment on dry sliding wear of as-cast eutectic Al-Si is examined. Lower wear rates may be observed when harder counterfaces, such as diamond-like carbon (DLC) or yttriastabilized zirconia, are used instead of the hardened steel surfaces traditionally employed in wear tests, particularly if the hard counterface has a smooth surface. The wear rate of the pins tested in air was more than twice that of those tested under argon. Similarly, the zirconia counterface showed much more wear for tests conducted in air. There was substantial subsurface cracking in the pins during wear testing in air, but none was observed in pins tested under argon. An oxide-rich tribolayer with zirconia inclusions was present on the surface of the wear pin. The small reduction in wear rate that was observed upon going from air to oxygen environments may be attributed to the absence of moisture in the oxygen test environment.
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