Fabrication and tribological properties of HSS‐based self‐lubrication composites with an interpenetrating network

A new range of high-speed steel (HSS)-based self-lubrication composites, with an interpenetrating network, were fabricated by infiltrating Pb-Sn-Ag ternary solid lubricants into TiC-reinforced HSS pre-forms. The microstructure and mechanical properties were investigated before and after infiltration. The tribological behaviour of the composites was investigated using a pin-on-disk, high temperature wear testing machine at different temperature (up to 800°C). Analysis indicated that Pb-Sn-Ag solid lubricants were well dispersed and embedded in the TiC-HSS matrix where both solid lubricant phase and matrix phase interpenetrating throughout the microstructure. The friction coefficient and specific wear rate of the composites decreased with the increase of the volume fraction of Pb-Sn-Ag solid lubricants up to 15 vol%. With further increases in Pb-Sn-Ag volume fraction, the friction coefficient decreased slightly while the wear rate increased rapidly. The reason is that a large degradation of mechanical properties occurred in samples with high Pb-Sn-Ag contents. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.