Friction and Wear Behavior of Paired Pairs of Ceramics and Metal in High-Pressure Pump of Seawater Desalination

Metal alloys with high specific strength and decay resistance are widely used as aqueous lubrication-bearing materials in the seawater environment. The friction pairs of Al2O3 ceramics were slid against TC4 titanium alloy, 316 stainless steel, and 2205 duplex stainless to identify the optimal wear-resistant materials for key parts of the seawater desalination pump used in a high-pressure environment. For the sake of studying the frictional wear performance of the pairing materials under the three environmental media of non-lubricated friction, purified water, and seawater, respectively, the main test instrument of this test was universal vertical friction and wear tester, which could quantitatively obtain the friction coefficient and wear amount of each friction surface, and the wear surface morphology and wear trajectory were obtained using a metallographic microscope and two-mode three-dimensional surface profilometer. Experimental results show that the friction coefficient between TC4 and Al2O3 was low, while the wear of the 2205–Al2O3 pair was low. The wear marks of 2205 and 316 are relatively shallow, and the wear was caused by the simultaneous existence and mutual influence of surface fatigue wear, seawater corrosion, and abrasive wear. Wear volume VTC4 V316 V2205 in seawater environment; wear rate of 2205 duplex stainless steel was low. Overall, the 2205–Al2O3 pair exhibits better properties than TC4 and 316 under seawater and is promising for future high-pressure pump bearings industry applications.