LAUSR

Tribological behavior of Cu−15Ni−8Sn (mass fraction, %) alloy against GCr15 ring under various loads was investigated on a ring-on-block tester in oil lubrication. The results showed that the wear rate increased slowly from 1.7×10−7 to 9.8× 10−7 mm3/mm under the load lower than 300 N, and then increased dramatically to the climax of 216×10−7 mm3/mm under the load over 300 N, which indicated the transition of wear mechanism with the increase of applied load. The wear mechanism mainly was plastic deformation and abrasive wear under the load less than 300 N. As the applied load was more than 300 N, the wear mechanism of Cu−15Ni−8Sn alloy primarily was delamination wear. Besides, the transition can also be confirmed from the different morphologies of worn surface, subsurface and wear debris. It is distinctly indicated that the appearance of flaky debris at the applied load over 300 N may be a critical point for the change of wear mechanism.