Influence of counterbody material on fretting wear behaviour of surface mechanical attrition treated Ti–6Al–4V

Surface mechanical attrition treatment (SMAT) was carried out on Ti–6Al–4V. Fretting wear tests were conducted using two counterbody materials (alumina and steel). SMAT resulted in surface nanocrystallization. Due to high hardness, low tangential force coefficient (TFC) and more TiO2 layer, fretting wear resistance of SMAT treated samples was higher than that of the untreated samples. TFC values obtained with alumina counterbody were higher than those obtained with steel counterbody. The fretting wear resistance of untreated and treated samples fretted against alumina was lower than that of the samples fretted against steel due to tribochemical reactions at the contact zone.