Exploring the influences of the counterpart materials on friction and wear behaviors of atmospheric plasma-sprayed YSZ coating

Sliding wear behaviors of atmospheric plasma-sprayed Yttria Stabilized Zirconia (YSZ) coating mated with four metallic or ceramic counterparts (Si 3 N 4 , Al 2 O 3 , GCr15 and ZrO 2 ) were investigated. It has been found that YSZ coatings in contact with Si 3 N 4 and GCr15 show better tribological performances than the other cases, which is due to the formation of the tribolayer mainly consisting of Si 3 N 4 and Fe 2 O 3 respectively on the worn surfaces. In the case of YSZ coating-Al 2 O 3 and YSZ coating-ZrO 2 tribopairs, the wear debris are more irregular and larger in size, resulting in severe abrasive wear and brittle fracture of debris particles. In particular, the specific wear rate of YSZ coating sliding against GCr15 is negative due to the significant material transfer of the tribo-oxide layer, while that of YSZ coating sliding against ZrO 2 is the highest. Amorphization of the wear particles appears in the four cases due to the repeated mechanical action. It has been demonstrated that the wear of YSZ coating deteriorates with the increased flash temperature between the contact surfaces during rubbing process. • YSZ coating is prepared by atmospheric plasma spraying. • The wear behavior depends strongly on the counterpart materials. • Wear particle characteristics is well recognized for clarifying wear mechanism. • Flash temperature correlates with the specific wear rate of YSZ coating.