Experimental study on the tribo-chemical smoothening process between self-mated silicon carbide in a water-lubricated surfacecontact reciprocating test

Silicon carbide(SiC) can be tribo-chemically smoothened during a self-mated sliding procedure in the aqueous environment. As well reported in the point-contact tests, this smoothening process works well due to the abundant water as oxidant. After this smoothening process, the tribo-surface is well polished, a closely mated tribo-gap naturally forms, and an ultra-low friction state is built. However, water in the tribo-gap could be insufficient in industrial applications, e.g., the seal gap in mechanical seals. In this study, the tribo-chemical smoothening behavior in such environment was researched. A surface-contact reciprocating test was used to simulate the aqueous environment where water was insufficient. After tests, compared to the published results from the point-contact tests, the same ultra-low friction state was achieved. A part of the tribo-surface was tribo-chemically smoothened. The obtained smoothened surface microstructure was consistent with the published information. Meanwhile, severe abrasive wear occurred. A porous oxygen-rich layer was found existing beneath the abrasion-induced grooves, in which numerous smashed wear debris adhered on the worn surfaces. We concluded that the shortage of water initiated the severe abrasion, meanwhile the generated wear debris aggravated the wear condition. This understanding is instructive for developing new methods to avoid the severe abrasion in the same water insufficient environment.

Insights into the tribological behavior of choline chloride-urea and choline chloride-thiourea deep eutectic solvents

Deep eutectic solvents(DESs)have been considered as novel and economic alternatives to traditional lubricants because of their similar physicochemical performance.In this study,choline chloride(ChCl)DESs were successfully synthesized via hydrogen-bonding networks of urea and thiourea as the hydrogen bond donors(HBDs).The as-synthesized ChCl-urea and ChCl-thiourea DESs had excellent thermal stability and displayed good lubrication between steel/steel tribo-pairs.The friction coefficient and wear rate of ChCl-thiourea DES were 50.1%and 80.6%,respectively,lower than those of ChCl-urea DES for GCr15/45 steel tribo-pairs.However,for GCr15/Q45 steel,ChCl-urea DES decreased the wear rate by 85.0%in comparison to ChCl-thiourea DES.Under ChCl-thiourea DES lubrication,the tribo-chemical reaction film composed of FeS formed at the interfaces and contributed to low friction and wear.However,under high von Mises stress,the film could not be stably retained and serious wear was obtained through direct contact of friction pairs.This illustrated that the evolution of the tribo-chemical reaction film was responsible for the anti-friction and anti-wearproperties of the DESs.

Effect of Deep Cryogenic Heat Treatment on the Wear Behavior of Carburized DIN 1.7131 Grade Steel

The effects of the deep cryogenic heat treatment on the microstructural changes,wear resistance,and hardness of carburized DIN 1.7131 grade steel were investigated.Results show that cryogenic heat treatment reduced the retained austenite and increased the carbide amount.In addition,after the cryogenic heat treatment,carbide shows a more uniform distribution,as compared to the conventionally treated ones.It was also clarified that the hardness of the cryogenically treated samples was improved,but the relative improvement decreases with the distance as the surface increases.It has been shown that the wear resistance improves due to the cryogenic heat treatment,and the predominant wear mechanism is a combination of the adhesive and tribo-chemical wear.