Friction and wear behavior of Cu-Fe3Al powder metallurgical composites in dry sliding

The dry sliding wear behaviour of unreinforced Cu alloy and on Cu-Fe3Al composites fabricated by a powder metallurgy technique was tested on a block-on-ring test machine. The effects of the contact pressure and the sliding speed on the wear behavior of Cu-Fe3Al composites and wear mechanisms during dry sliding were investigated. The worn surfaces were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS). It was found that the coefficients of friction for the Cu-Fe3Al composites were approximately independent of the contact pressure and the sliding speed variation. With increasing volume fraction of Fe3Al particle, wear resistance of the composites increased at lower contact pressures but not at higher contact pressures, and the coefficients of friction slightly decreased. Because of formation of a protective oxide film on the sliding surface of the specimen at a low contact pressure and high sliding speed, and increase in the work-hardening rate in the subsurface layer of the wear specimen, the wear rate of Cu-Fe3Al composites decreased with the sliding speed. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.