Influence of surface melting on dry rolling-sliding wear of aluminium bronze against steel

The frictional and wear properties of a complex aluminium bronze against a hardened steel have been studied using dry rolling-sliding wear testing. The wear of the samples and the counterpart wheels has been investigated, noting the changes in behaviour conferred by the electron beam surface melting treatment. It was found that the friction coefficient and the wear loss were reduced by surface melting and that the increase in hardness and the subsequent decrease in friction coefficient were the main causes for the improvement of wear resistance resulting from surface melting. Other beneficial changes came from the resultant homogeneous martensitic structure in the surface melted layer. The elimination of the large kappa particles due to surface melting eliminates one of the possible crack nucleation sites, and the layered alpha + kappa structure formed in the as-received material due to wear deformation provides an easier crack propagation path.