Friction and wear of binder-less niobium carbide

The tribological profile of alumina (99.7%) mated against binder-less niobium carbide (NbC) rotating disks were determined unidirectional sliding tests (0.1–7.5 m/s; 22 1C and 400 1C) as well as in oscillation tests (f¼20 Hz, Δx¼0.2 mm, 2/50/98% rel. humidity, n¼105 /106 cycles) under un-lubricated (dry) conditions. In addition, the microstructure and mechanical properties of NbC were determined as well. The reason for testing hot-pressed NbC was to avoid side effects generated by sintering additives and/or second phases. The tribological data obtained were benchmarked with different ceramics, cermets and thermally sprayed coatings. NbC exhibited low wear rates under dry sliding associated with high load carrying capacity. The tribological profile established revealed a strong position of NbC under tribological considerations and for closed tribo-systems against traditional references, such as WC, Cr3C2, (Ti,Mo) (C,N), etc.publisher: Elsevier articletitle: Friction and wear of binder-less niobium carbide journaltitle: Wear articlelink: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wear.2013.07.013 content_type: article copyright: Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.status: publishe