Clarification of how oxidation and counterface materials influence the high temperature tribological properties of TiAl alloy is the main object of this research. As evident from the comparison tests in air and argon, surface oxidation is detrimental to the tribological properties of the alloy at low temperature, but favorable above 600 °C.
Counterface (Si3N4, SiC and Al2O3) is an important factor that largely affects the tribological properties of TiAl alloys, and this effect is strongly dependent on the system environment. In general, TiAl alloy shows superior tribological properties when Al2O3 is mating surface, excluding at 800 °C in argon.
This paper was originally published in Materials & Design 84 (2015), Pages 245–253.