Abstract
A unique low-to-high friction transition is observed during unlubricated sliding in metals with a gradient nano-grained (GNG) surface layer. After persisting in the low-friction state (0.2–0.4) for tens of thousands of cycles, the coefficients of friction in the GNG copper (Cu) and copper-silver (Cu-5Ag) alloy start to increase, eventually reaching a high level (0.6–0.8). By monitoring the worn surface morphology evolution, wear-induced damage accumulation, and worn subsurface structure evolution during sliding, we found that the low-to-high friction transition is strongly correlated with distinct microstructural instabilities induced by vertical plastic deformation and wear-off of the stable nanograins in the subsurface layer. A very low wear loss of the GNG samples was achieved compared with the coarse-grained sample, especially during the low friction stage. Our results suggest that it is possible to postpone the initiation of low-to-high friction transitions and enhance the wear resistance in GNG metals by increasing the GNG structural stability against grain coarsening under high loading.
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Acknowledgements
We thank J. Tan for assistance in FIB experiments. We are grateful for the financial supports of the National Key R&D Program of China (Nos. 2017YFA0204401 and 2017YFA0204403), the Key Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. KGZD-EW-T06), and Liaoning Revitalization Talents Program (No. XLYC1808008). Discussion with Dr. Michael Chandross are greatly acknowledged.
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Xiang CHEN. He received his Ph.D. degree in 2016 from the Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China. After his postdoctoral work at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and RWTH Aachen University in Germany, he joined Nanjing University of Science and Technology (NUST, China) in 2019, as a full professor. He heads the Materials Tribology Group in NUST. His research interests include tribology of heterogeneous materials and aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy.
Zhong HAN. She received her M.S. degree in materials processing at Shenyang University of Technology, China, in 1994 and her Ph.D. degree in materials science at Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China, in 1997. She is currently a professor at the Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China. Her research interests span a range of microstructure effect on the tribological behavior of metallic materials, with a particular interest in friction and wear mechanisms of nano-structured metals, low friction control with gradient nano-structured metals.
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Chen, X., Han, Z. A low-to-high friction transition in gradient nano-grained Cu and Cu-Ag alloys. Friction 9, 1558–1567 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-020-0440-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-020-0440-x