Tribological behaviors of B4C-SiC composites self-mated pairs in seawater and pure water

In this paper, the tribological behaviors of B4C-SiC composites self-mated pairs in seawater and pure water were investigated, respectively. The results showed that the B4C-SiC composite with the content of 20%SiC has good mechanical properties. For the B4C-20%SiC self-mated pair in seawater, the abrasive wear is greatly weakened, and the tribo-chemical reactions between the composite surface and water molecules occurred. The tribo-chemical polishing causes very smooth wear surfaces, and the sliding pairs enter to the status of liquid lubrication. An extremely low friction coefficient (0.038) and wear rate (both below the order of magnitude 10(-5) mm(3)/N m) were obtained in this study. Due to the lower viscosity of pure water, the load carrying capacity of the liquid film reduces. So, in pure water, the sliding pair shows slightly higher friction coefficient and wear rate than that in seawater.