Sliding wear behavior of Al2O3-NbC composites obtained by conventional and nonconventional techniques

[EN] This study aims to investigate the dry sliding wear behavior of Al2O3 5vol.%NbC nanocomposite sintered by conventional and spark plasma sintering at temperatures from 1450 to 1600 ºC. The tests were performed using WC 6 wt%Co balls as a counterpart material, a load of 30 and 60 N, a sliding distance of 2000 m and a sliding speed of 0.1 m/s. The consolidation techniques influenced the friction coefficient, wear rates and patterns. Samples tested at 30 N showed better wear resistance than the samples tests with 60 N. The nanocomposites obtained by SPS at 1500 ºC exhibited a lower friction coefficient and wear rate compared to all other materials. The results indicated that Al2O3-NbC nanocomposites show promise as material for cutting tool applications.This work has been financial support by the Brazilian institution CAPES for the project CAPES-PVE A086/2013 (project No 23038.009604/2013-12). A. Borrell acknowledges the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness for her Juan de la Cierva-Incorporacion contract (IJCI-2014-19839).Ribeiro-Rodrigues Alecrim, L.; Ferreira, J.; Gutierrez-Gonzalez, C.; Salvador Moya, MD.; Borrell Tomás, MA.; Pallone, E. (2017). Sliding wear behavior of Al2O3-NbC composites obtained by conventional and nonconventional techniques. Tribology International. 110:216-221. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.triboint.2017.02.02821622111