Dry sliding wear response of some bearing alloys as influenced by the nature of microconstituents and sliding conditions

An attempt has been made in this study to examine the dry sliding wear response of a leaded-tin bronze, an aluminum bronze, and a conventional zinc-based alloy under varying applied pressure and speed conditions. Different characteristics of the microconstituents of the alloys have been correlated with that of their wear behavior. The study clearly indicates that the influence of the microstructural features greatly changes with the sliding conditions. It also has been observed that in order to attain good wear characteristics, a material should comprise an optimum level of lubricating, load bearing and ductile microconstituents, and, above all, thermal stability. Room temperature properties in fact play rather a secondary role in this context.