Microstructural Characterization and Evaluation of Sliding Wear of Hastelloy C276 under Different Loading Conditions

Abstract

Hastelloy C276 is investigated for dry sliding wear against an EN 31 stainless steel (hardness 60 HRC) at 298 K. The tribological properties such as frictional force, coefficient of friction and the wear rate on the material surface at different sliding distance are examined under different loading conditions. In the dry wear test at 40 N load, the wear rate increased by 300% as compared to 10, 20, 30 N loading conditions. The experimental results indicated reduction in coefficient of friction values and thus an increase in the frictional force with the increase in normal load. SEM images of worn out surfaces confirm that the delamination and adhesion causes the material removal from the surface in dry sliding. Further, the analysis of the hardness characteristics of worn out surfaces shows surface hardening during sliding wear process under 40 N load