Tribology Letters

, 30:191 | Cite as

Sliding Wear of Electrically Conductive ZrO2−WC Composites Against WC–Co Cemented Carbide

  • K. Bonny
  • P. De Baets
  • J. Vleugels
  • A. Salehi
  • O. Van der Biest
  • B. Lauwers
  • W. Liu
Original Paper
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

ZrO2-based composites with WC addition can be successfully machined by electrical discharge machining (EDM) in demineralised water. ZrO2 composites with 40 vol.% WC were produced from nanocrystalline and micrometre sized WC starting powders in order to compare their tribological behaviour. Friction and wear data are obtained on wire-EDM’ed ZrO2–WC composite flats sliding against a WC–Co cemented carbide pin using a small-scale pin-on-plate testing rig. Correlations between wear volume, wear rate and friction coefficient on the one hand and material properties and test conditions on the other hand were elucidated. The experimental results revealed that the grain size of the electro-conductive WC-phase exhibits a strong influence on the friction and wear behaviour of the ZrO2-based composite.

Keywords

ZrO2–WC composite Unlubricated friction SEM XRD Wear mechanisms 
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Notes

Acknowledgements

This work was co-financed with a research fellowship of the Flemish Institute for the promotion of Innovation by Science and Technology in industry (IWT) under project contract number GBOU-IWT-010071-SPARK. The authors gratefully acknowledge CERATIZIT for supplying the cemented carbide pins.

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2008

Authors and Affiliations

  • K. Bonny
    • 1
  • P. De Baets
    • 1
  • J. Vleugels
    • 2
  • A. Salehi
    • 2
  • O. Van der Biest
    • 2
  • B. Lauwers
    • 3
  • W. Liu
    • 3
  1. 1.Department of Mechanical Construction and ProductionGhent UniversityGentBelgium
  2. 2.Department of Metallurgy and Materials EngineeringCatholic University LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
  3. 3.Department of Mechanical EngineeringCatholic University LeuvenLeuvenBelgium

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