Wear and Friction Characteristics of a Selected Stainless Steel

Dry sliding wear tests were performed for 3Cr13 steel with various tempered states at 25-400 degrees C; wear and friction characteristics as well as the wear mechanism were explored. With an increase in test temperature, the wear rate decreased accompanied by an increase in tribo-oxides. The fluctuation of friction coefficient was slight at 25-200 degrees C but became violent at 400 degrees C. At 25-200 degrees C, adhesive wear prevailed due to trace or less tribooxides; at 400 degrees C, oxidative wear prevailed with the predominant tribo-oxides of Fe3O4 and Fe2O3. It can be suggested that the antioxidation of the stainless steel postponed the occurrence of oxidative wear to a higher test temperature. For adhesive wear, the wear resistance, roughly following Archard's rule, was directly proportional to hardness besides the specimen tempered at 500 degrees C with grain boundary brittleness. But for elevated-temperature wear, a better wear resistance required thermal stability and an appropriate combination of hardness and toughness.