Wear Resistance of the La62Cu12Ni12Al14 Bulk Metallic Glass Under Dry Friction Conditions

The wear properties of a La62Cu12Ni12Al14 bulk metallic glass (BMG) using sliding wear system under the various normal loads and the annealing conditions have been investigated. Although the La62Cu12Ni12Al14 BMG is brittle during the tensile testing, it exhibits ductile behaviors during the sliding wear process. The SEM and the EDS analyses of the wear tracks and the debris after the sliding wear processes indicate that the wear mechanism is a combination of abrasion, adhesion, and oxidation. It is found that the wear resistance is significantly affected by the normal loads. With the increases in the wear load, the wear loss and the friction coefficient decrease. In addition, it is found that the wear properties are significantly affected by the annealing conditions. Compared with the annealed BMG alloys, the as-cast BMG alloy with a low hardness exhibits good wear resistance, which is attributed to the better ductility during the wear testing.