Tribological Properties of Stainless Steel Under Water Lubricated Conditions: Effects of Dissolved Ions in Tap Water

摘要

In this research, wear tests of austenitic stainless steel AISI304 disks against Al{sub}2O{sub}3 balls and Si{sub}3N{sub}4 balls were carried out under water-lubricated conditions for the tribo-elements of the water hydraulic machineries. Tap water sampled at several places in Japan and pure water were used in the experiment to investigate the effects dissolved ions in water. The electrochemical technique using the three-electrode method was applied for measurement and control of the potential of AISI304 surfaces. The results showed that wear volume of AISI304 against Al{sub}2O{sub}3 increase with an increase in electric conductivity at low load conditions. On the contrary, severe wear of AISI304 against Al{sub}2O{sub}3 occurred at higher load conditions in pure water that contains very little dissolved ions and has very low electro conductivity. The experiments of AISI304 against Si{sub}3N{sub}4 resulted in severe wear of both materials and high fiction coefficient. Electro-chemical results showed that the potential of AISI304 surface decreases drastically by rubbing and the potential drop increases with an increase in load.