Effect of Cold Deformation on the Friction–Wear Property of a Biomedical Nickel-Free High-Nitrogen Stainless Steel

The microstructural, mechanical and corrosion properties of different cold-rolled biomedical nickel-free high-nitrogen stainless steels (NFHNSSs) were investigated to study the effect of cold deformation on its dry wear resistance as well as corrosion–wear behaviors in distilled water and Hank’s solution. The results indicated that NFHNSS was characterized by stable austenite and possessed excellent work-hardening capacity; due to increasing cold deformation, the corrosion resistance just decreased very slightly and the dry wear rate decreased initially but subsequently increased, while the corrosion–wear resistance was improved monotonically in both distilled water and Hank’s solution in spite of the presence of corrosive ions. The friction coefficients for different cold-rolled NFHNSSs were very close under the same lubricating condition, but they were the largest in distilled water compared to that in dry wear tests and Hank’s solution.