High-temperature friction and wear studies of Fe-Cu-Sn alloy with graphite as solid lubricant under dry sliding conditions

Solid lubricants are particularly used in the advanced mechanical motion systems with extreme conditions such as (high temperature, vacuum, radiation, extreme contact pressure, etc). The main focus of this paper is to study the dry sliding friction and wear behavior of Fe-Cu-Sn alloy with varying wt% of graphite at high temperature up to 423 K. The influence of temperature, sliding distance and load on friction and wear behavior of Fe-Cu-Sn alloy against EN8 steel was studied using ball (EN8) on disc (Fe-Cu-Sn alloy). Lower wear and lower friction of Fe-Cu-Sn alloy were observed at high temperature, as compared to room temperature. Surface morphological and surface analytical studies of fresh and worn surfaces were carried out using optical microscopy, 3D profilometer, scanning electron microscope, energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, XRD, and Raman spectroscopy to understand the friction and wear behavior.