Tribological properties of a novel iron-based self-lubricating composite

In this work, the tribological properties of a novel iron-based self-lubricating composite as the tribopairs of a plunger pump were systematically studied on an end-face tribometer, and the tribological mechanism was also revealed. The results show that the wear mechanism of the composite can be ascribed to adhesive wear when the sliding speed is lower than 1.5 m/s. As the sliding speed increases from 1.5 to 2.0 m/s, the wear type transforms to oxidative wear due to the increase of tribo-oxidation. In addition, the failure criteria of the tribopair composite materials are summarised. When the average coefficient of friction is greater than 0.04, or the wear rate is greater than 9.66 mu m(3)/(N m), the tribopair fails. This offers a valuable reference for industrial application of the tribopairs made from the iron-based self-lubricating composite.