Tribological and vibrational characteristics of AISI 316L tested at elevated temperature and 600 Torr vacuum

• Main Authors: K. Arul Raj, M.P. Arunkumar, P.K.C. Kanigalpula, M. Karthikeyan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. 2019-02-01
• Series: Defence Technology
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214914718300448

Friction and wear studies enable the investigation of material interaction between two sliding surfaces in contact. In the present investigation, the coefficient of friction and the wear resistance of AISI 316 L parts were studied under self-mating, dry sliding conditions using a pin-on-disc type configuration. The experiments were conducted at vacuum based high temperature pin-on-disc tribometer. The 4 mm diameter pin and 180 mm diameter disc were subjected to varying sliding velocities (0.5, 0.75 and 1.5 m/s) and were operated in 200, 400, 500 and 580 °C temperature at 600 Torr vacuum. The variation of specific wear rates with sliding velocities and different environmental conditions was studied. The morphology of sliding/rubbed surfaces was observed using Scanning Electron Microscope. In summary, it was found that a severe to mild wear transition occurred in sliding under operating conditions. Increased wear rates have been observed for 500 and 580 °C with increasing sliding velocity. Adhesive wear has been found to be predominant at 500 and 580 °C where as de-lamination has been observed at ambient temperature, 200 and 400 °C in vacuum. The present paper also carried out the numerical analysis of the vibration behavior of AISI 316 L under thermal environment. Results revealed that at high temperature vibrational amplitude and natural frequency is significantly reduced. This can be attributed to the reduction in stiffness of the material at elevated temperatures. This high amplitude vibration during service can lead to high wear rate. Keywords: Pin-on-disc, Sliding wear, Vacuum, De-lamination, Scanning electron microscope, Vibration