Effect of Wearlessness in Surface Alloying of Steel with Bismuth

This work is devoted to the analysis of the wear-free effect for carbon steels subjected to surface alloying with metallic bismuth using the technology of short-pulse laser melting. Tribological studies were performed in conjunction with industrial metal alloys — gray cast iron, nickel-aluminum bronze, aluminum alloy. Under boundary lubrication conditions, the bismuth-alloyed steel surface tested in contact with the analyzed alloys showed ultralow value of the friction coefficient in the range from 0.04 to 0.08. It was established that the high fatigue strength of the aluminum alloy and the absence of adhesion with the bismuth-alloyed steel sur-face provide conditions that implement the wear-free effect (zero wear) at friction speeds of up to 9 m/s and normal loads of up to 250 N. Metallographic analysis and 3D profilometry of friction surfaces revealed that the process of self-organization of the contact zone is athermal in nature (without frictional heating) and is determined by the plastic flow of the contacting surfaces without their mutual destruction.

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