Investigation of the effects of mixtures of WS2 and ZnO solid lubricants on the sliding friction and wear of M50 steel against silicon nitride at elevated temperatures

Abstract An investigation of the potential tribological benefits of hybrid, temperature-adaptive solid lubricating composites was conducted over a range of temperatures. M50 steel-based composites (M) were created using ZnO (MZ), WS2 (MW), or mixtures of both (MZW). Intended as hybrid temperature-adaptive lubricants, they were slid against silicon nitride in a pin-on-disk apparatus at different temperatures (RT, 200, 400, 600, and 800 °C) in air. The load was 12 N, and sliding speed was 0.2 m/s. XRD, EPMA, FESEM, EDS mapping, and XPS tests were conducted to understand the major mechanisms leading to the improvements in the sliding behavior of the M50-based composites. Results suggested that MZW provides the lowest friction behavior within the range of temperatures. It attains the lowest kinetic friction coefficients (0.19), as compared to M (0.33), MZ (0.26), or MW (0.29) at 800 °C. The analysis suggests that the behavior is controlled by the formation of lubricating oxides and tribo-films.

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