Sliding Wear Characteristics of Sintered Fe-Ni-Mo Alloys Impregnated with Nylon 11

Sliding wear characteristics of sintered Fe-Ni-Mo alloys impregnated with a thermoplastic synthetic resin, Nylon 11, were studied in order to examine the suitability as wear-resisting materials for machine parts. The wear test in unlubricated sliding was made on the three different series of these alloys containing various amounts of Nylon 11 as stator material in combination with a carbon steel S45C as rotor material. In the wear test at various sliding velocities ranging from 0.10 to 4.00 m·s−1 and at a contact pressure of 0.49 MPa, the material with a sintered density of 6.65 Mg·m−3, which was prepared by compacting the powder mixture at a pressure of 490 MPa, showed the best wear-resistance. The limiting conditions for effective lubrication with the impregnated Nylon 11 were determined from the relationships between wearing rate and sliding velocity and also between wearing volume and sliding distance. The critical sliding velocities for sudden changes in wear resistance at the contact pressures of 0.49, 0.98 and 1.96 MPa were 4.00, 2.00 and 1.50 m·s−1 respectively. The Nylon-impregnated materials showed a remarkable wear resistance, the specific wear rate of which was about one-four thousandths of that for the unimpregnated and one-tenth that for the SCM 435 steel treated by ion-nitriding.