Dry sliding wear performance of 7075 Al alloy under different temperatures and load conditions

Dry sliding wear tests were performed for 7075 Al alloy under a load of 25–250 N at 25–200 °C. The wear behaviors and mechanisms under various testing conditions were explored. A mild-to-severe wear transition is noticed to occur with an increase in the load at 25–200 °C. With the temperature increasing, the wear loss decreases constantly under the low load of less than 50 N. It can be suggested that the 7075 Al alloy presents a high wear resistance under a high ambient temperature and low load. Its high wear resistance is found to be attributed to the existence of mechanically mixing layer (MML). The predominant wear mechanism is adhesive and abrasive wear at room temperature. With the ambient temperature and load increasing, oxidative wear and plastic extrusive wear successively prevail due to thermal oxidation and softening of matrix.