Wear of Cu–15Ni–8Sn spinodal alloy

The wear behavior of a casting Cu–15Ni–8Sn spinodal alloy aged for different periods of time at 400 °C was investigated under the lubricated sliding condition at a load of 1470 N. The worn surface morphologies and debris particles were observed on a scanning electron microscope. The hardness of aged specimens of the alloy was found to increase initially with the aging time and then to decrease. The best wear resistance of the tested alloy is corresponding to the maximum value of hardness aged for 120 min. In accordance, the wear rate was inversely changed with the aging time. The friction coefficient was constant for different aging treatment. Accordingly, the wear mechanism of the alloy is discussed. Besides light abrasive wear, the dominant wear mechanism was that the surface material of the Cu–15Ni–8Sn sample was extruded by the harder asperities periodically and formed flake-like extrusions with layer structures. When these extrusions got long enough, they broke off and became the wear debris particles.