Enhancing tribological performance of Ti-6Al-4V using pin on disc setup

Abstract

Titanium (Ti) alloy Ti-6Al-4V (Ti64), possesses a inimitable combination of mechanical, physical and corrosion properties, which makes them desirable for applications like aerospace, automobile, chemical and energy industries devices etc. However this alloy of Ti exhibits poor tribological (friction and wear) properties, which limits their full fledged implementation. However, the tribological behavior of T164 can be enhanced by providing a coating or a protective layer on it, which posses superior tribological properties. It is hypothesized that by a layer of alumina on the can be deposited on the surface of Ti64, by sliding them in dry-ambient condition using Pin On Disk (POD) machine. To validate the hypothesis, experiments were performed for different normal loading conditions of 13.7N, 68.7N and 109.9N at sliding speed of 0.01m/s and for a sliding distance of 1000m. The tribological performance of the experiments, were evaluated by measuring Coefficient of Friction (COF) and weight loss values. To understand the tribological mechanism and behaviour, In-situ analysis was performed on the pin using (i) Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) to understand the wear morphology, and (ii) Energy Dispersive Analysis of X Ray (EDAX) to estimate the deposition of alumina on surface of the pins. Based on the obtained results, the most favorable experimenting condition required for deposition of alumina over Ti64 will be identified. Finally, experiment on POD will be repeated for the selected experimenting condition and will be continued for the worst tribological condition. The obtained COF and wear values after performing the experiment will be presented. � 2018 Author(s).