Tribological behavior of Fe40Mn20Cr20Ni20 40 Mn 20 Cr 20 Ni 20 HEA sliding against various counterface materials

Wear is a failure factor that must be considered when alloys are in service, especially as moving parts. However, few current studies have addressed the tribological behavior of HEAs in service with tribo-pair systems consisting of materials in contact with them. Therefore, in this work, the tribological properties between Fe40Mn20Cr20Ni20 40 Mn 20 Cr 20 Ni 20 HEA with four typical counterfaces consisting of tribo-pair systems were investigated at room temperature, i.e., hard alloy (WC/Co), metal (GCr15 steel), ceramic (Si3N4) 3 N 4 ) and plastic (POM). It was found that there were significant differences in the wear mechanisms between various tribo-pair systems. Moreover, adhesive wear dominates the wear extent of the alloys. The wear rate of the alloy after sliding with WC/Co or GCr15 even reached 20-30 times higher than that after sliding with Si3N4, 3 N 4 , indicating that the sliding contact of the alloy with WC/Co or GCr15 is not an optimal design during service. In addition, the frictional oxidation that occurs during sliding contact played good lubrication role. In tribo-pair systems consisting of Fe40Mn20Cr20Ni20 40 Mn 20 Cr 20 Ni 20 HEA with WC/ Co, GCr15 or Si3N4, 3 N 4 , the average coefficient of friction exhibited a tendency to decrease with the normal force.