The Sliding Behaviors of Copper Alloys
Abstract
The unlubricated behaviors of a number of copper alloys and especially their metal transfers and scuffing tendencies were investigated on steel, chromium electroplate, and tantalum using a specially designed pin-on- disk friction and wear machine. This machine limited the sliding time to about 100 msec. It was not possible to correlate metal transfer, scuffing (rough deposits), or friction with the properties of the alloys. There was a correlation of wear with hardness for similar alloys with higher hardness alloys having lower wear. The effect of hardness was different for different mating surfaces. The data from aluminum bronze and the welded overlay rotating band materials investigated did not fall into this correlation. This could not be attributed to a special microstructure or to crystalline orientation in the case of the welded overlay band materials. Mutual solubility of the pin and disk metals and relative position in the periodic table also did not control metal transfer and scuffing with the copper alloys investigated. While position in the periodic table is identical and mutual solubilities are certainly very similar for most of the copper alloys, there were great differences in metal transfer and scuffing. While there was a tendency for more transfer to occur at higher wear rates, heavy and very heavy transfer do occur even at very low rates. Heavy and very heavy transfer were not usually associated with high wear and rough deposits were not usually associated with high wear and heavy transfer. The first step in wear was not transfer to the mating surfaces. In addition, small amounts of iron in the copper alloys did not result in scuffing and high metal transfer even when sliding on steel.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1982
- Accession Number
- ADA118379
Entities
People
- R. S. Montgomery
Organizations
- United States Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center