Comparison of coefficient of friction and contact resistance during sliding wear on clad gold-nickel surfaces

This paper presents an analysis of experimental sliding wear data for four hard-gold flash over gold-diffused-nickel material systems (GF-DGNi). The surface hardness of the DGNi material was altered by varying both the gold surface concentration and the amount of cold reduction after the diffusion anneal. These material systems were evaluated for unlubricated and lubricated sliding wear durability. The lubricant used was a 6-ring polyphenyl ether, OS-138, that was applied by dipping the specimens in a 2.5% solution of OS-138 in a propylene glycol monomethyl ether carrier. A gold flash palladium connector pin and a strip of metal that had been clad with the gold-nickel material system were mated to form a pseudo-crossed-rod configuration for each of these sliding wear experiments.