Comparison of fretting wear of uncoated and PVD TiN coated high-speed steel under different testing conditions

The fretting wear behaviour of materials in vibrating contacts is dependent on mechanical contact conditions, environmental conditions, and materials properties. These factors may interact with one another, thus making wear a complex system property. In this paper, the influence of relative humidity and normal load on the fretting wear behaviour of PVD TiN coated and uncoated ASP23 steel sliding against corundum is reported. The wear mechanism of TiN coatings is discussed for different fretting parameters. This study indicates that TiN coatings are more sensitive to relative humidity than ASP23 steel in fretting wear tests. The interaction between normal load and displacement determines the fretting regime.