Sliding tribological characteristics of Zr-based bulk metallic glass under lubricated conditions

This paper presents the effect of lubricant, SAE EP 90, on tribological properties of Zr-based bulk metallic glass. The coefficient of friction and wear rate values were evaluated for the wide range of applied normal loads (5–40 N) and contact sliding speeds (0.15–1.60 m/s). Wear and friction properties of tribolayers were strongly affected by both parameters throughout the study. Overall average coefficient of friction values were less than 0.1 in the range of study. No sliding induced crystallization was detected by X-Ray analysis. The results of wear characteristics of BMG were also compared with well-known structural materials, AISI 6061-T6 and AISI 304.