Tribological behavior of a novel alumina/nano-zirconia/niobium biocomposite against ultra high molecular weight polyethylene

The present work has studied the dry sliding behavior of Al2O3–nZrO2–Nb micro–nanobiocomposites against ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) in air. The tests were carried out with a reciprocating wear tester with an applied load of 30 N, a sliding speed of 0.06 m/s and sliding distance up to 10 km. Under the adopted testing conditions, the ceramic–metal composite against UHMWPE shows one and a half order of magnitude lower wear rate than the monolithic alumina; and friction coefficient as low as half of that for pure alumina–UHMWPE system. This behavior is related with: (a) the improvement in mechanical properties (toughness and strength) that will lead to the corresponding improvement in wear properties, and (b) the formation of a self-lubricating layer that will provide sufficient lubrication in order to considerably reduce the friction, as compared to monolithic alumina against UHMWPE combination.