Investigation of friction and wear behaviours of CuSn10 alloy in vacuum

Purpose: Friction and wear always occur at machine parts which run together. This affects the efficiency of machines negatively. Today, many industrial applications use vacuum conditions. Therefore, it became essential to determine the tribological behaviour of the machine components running under these conditions. In this paper, friction and wear behaviour of CuSn10 alloy which is used commonly in the industry as a bearing material is investigated at vacuum conditions. Design/methodology/approach: A couple formed between commercial CuSn10 alloy and Fe 70 (general construct steel) to simulate widely used bearing applications in the industry is investigated. The results obtained at various bearing surface pressures and different vacuum stages are compared to those obtained at atmospheric conditions. Findings: The test results clearly showed that the coefficient of friction increased in vacuum comparing to the results obtained in atmospheric conditions. However, the wear resistance of the alloy increased in vacuum conditions and the samples showed lower wear rate. Research limitations/implications: The results showed that there are some important differences in friction and wear behaviors of CuSn10 alloy in vacuum and atmospheric conditions. Originality/value: Investigation of friction and wear behaviours of CuSn10 alloy in vacuum were made.