Frictional behaviors of some nitrogen ceramics in conformal contact with tin coated Al-si alloy, steel and MMC

The frictional behavior of certain nitrogen-containing ceramics, such as silicon nitride, alpha sialons, and beta sialons as journal materials were studied in conformal contact with a tin-coated Al-Si alloy (Al-Si/Sn), forged 1141 steel and a cast aluminum matrix composite withsilicon carbide reinforcement (cast MMC) as bearing materials while lubricated with SAE 10W30. A case-hardened 1016 steel was also tested with the Al-Si/Sn and cast MMC bearings under the same conditions. The friction values of the ceramic and the steel journal wear pairs were compared and their frictional behaviors were evaluated. Silicon nitride and one of the beta sialons exhibited higher load-supporting capacities than the others when they were in contact with the 1141 steel bearings. The journal surface roughness was found to be very important when the journals were in contact with the Al-Si/Sn bearings. The frictional behavior of the ceramics and cast MMC pairs and the steel and cast MMC pairs were controlled by different wear mechanisms, namely for the former, hard particle pull-out and matrix plowing, and for the latter, iron transfer from the journal to the cast MMC bearing surface.