Fretting Wear Behavior of Ti(CN)-Based Advanced Cermets

Abstract

Advanced ceramics and cermets, due to their excellent mechanical properties (elastic modulus, hardness), are increasingly appreciated in the tribological applications such as wear parts, cutting tools etc. Particularly for machining applications, Ti(CN)-based cermets represent common and important cutting tool inserts and now second to that of the conventional hardmetal (WC-Co). This research concentrates on the fretting wear behavior of Ti(CN)-Ni cermets reinforced with WC as secondary carbides. The wear tests were carried out on Ti(C0.7N0.3)-x WC-Ni (x the varying carbide content) against bearing steel in the ambient conditions of temperature and humidity (50-55 % RH). Friction results indicate that significantly lower Coefficient of Friction (COF) can be achieved with Ti(CN)-based cermets as compared to conventional WCCo materials. Detailed analysis of the tribological data was carried out to unravel the influence of secondary carbide on the wear performance of Ti(CN)-Ni cermets. Additionally, the morphology of the worn surfaces was investigated using SEM and Raman spectroscopy to understand the wear mechanism.