Friction and wear behavior of SUS 304 austenitic stainless steel against Al₂O₃ ceramic ball under relative high load

Friction and wear behaviors of SUS 304 austenitic stainless steel (ASS) disc against Al₂O₃ ceramic ball and GCr15 bearing steel ball, respectively, were studied using a Cameron-Plint TE67 pin-on-disc tester. The tests were performed under 5-50 N loads and 0.06-0.19 m/s sliding speed. Results showed that there was a gestating period before the friction coefficient increased rapidly as the normal load was increased beyond 30 N. They also showed that the specific wear rate of SUS 304 austenitic stainless steel decreased with the increasing of the sliding speed. As a result of the breaking of Al₂O₃ particles and/or the possible transformation of friction-induced meta-stable austenite γ to martensite α′ that led to the generation of harder debris, the wear of SUS 304 austenitic stainless steel was a mixing mode of both adhesion and plough processes.