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Tribological Investigation of La2O3 Dispersed W-Ni-Cu Heavy Alloy Processed through Powder Metallurgy Process

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Abstract

Two tungsten heavy alloys (WHAs), 90W-6Ni-4Cu and 89W-6Ni-4Cu-1La2O3, were synthesized using a powder metallurgy route. With sintering at 1400 °C for 1 h under an inert atmosphere, wear and tribology studies were carried out at various loads and speeds on both sintered WHAs under the ball-on-disk wear tester by using a WC ball as a counter body. Important parameters such as coefficient of friction (CoF), wear rate, and weight loss at various loads were determined. It was found that the CoF of the 89W-6Ni-4Cu-1La2O3 heavy alloy decreased from 0.45 to 0.37 with increased load, while wear rate and wear loss were observed to increase with increased load. An increase in wear rate and a decrease in CoF was observed on increasing the sliding speed. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to examine the worn surface and alloy composition in order to understand the active wear mechanisms in both alloys. Morphology and chemical compositions of wear debris were characterized by SEM and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), respectively. Additionally, both sintered alloys of worn surfaces have shown that a combination of abrasion, adhesion, and oxidation is the wear mechanism in all conditions. The effect of 1% La2O3 was seen to reduce the wear rate of W-Ni-Cu heavy alloy. The wear rate of La2O3 containing W-Ni-Cu heavy alloy was found to increase from 2.79 ± 0.083 × 10−3 mm3/m to 10.26 ± 0.1 × 10−3 mm3/m with increase in the applied load from 10 to 30 N at 200 RPM speed.

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Acknowledgment

The authors acknowledge the powder metallurgy laboratory for facilitating the fabrication of WHA and conducting the ball-on-disk wear test. The characterization part is done in the department of MSE at IIT Kanpur.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, UP, 208016, India

    Navindra Shekhar Shakunt,  Gouthama & Anish Upadhyaya

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  1. Navindra Shekhar Shakunt
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  2. Gouthama
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  3. Anish Upadhyaya
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Contributions

Navindra Shekhar Shakunt involved in conceptualization, methodology, investigation, and writing—original draft. Anish Upadhyaya involved in supervision, review and editing, and resources; Gouthama involved in supervision and review and editing.

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Correspondence to Anish Upadhyaya.

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Shakunt, N.S., Gouthama & Upadhyaya, A. Tribological Investigation of La2O3 Dispersed W-Ni-Cu Heavy Alloy Processed through Powder Metallurgy Process. J. of Materi Eng and Perform (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-024-09177-0

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