Effect of counterbody on tribological properties of B4C–SiC composite ceramics

Abstract Pressureless sintered B4C–SiC composite ceramics were subjected to dry sliding friction and wear against Al2O3, Si3N4 and SUJ2 bearing steel counterbodies at 5 N, 10 N and 20 N. Friction coefficient and specific wear rate were measured, and wear mechanisms were studied. For the B4C–SiC composite ceramics, both the friction coefficient and specific wear rate were dependent on counterbody materials. However, the influence of counterbody materials on friction coefficient and systematic specific wear rate of B4C–SiC composite ceramics was not obvious at high load, which was attributed to the formation of a number of compaction layers on all the worn surfaces of B4C–SiC composite ceramics against Al2O3, Si3N4 and SUJ2 counterbodies. At the same loads, the wear of B4C–SiC composite ceramics sliding against different counterbodies at low load was mainly controlled by the chemical similarity of counterbody, whereas the wear of B4C–SiC composite ceramics sliding against different counterbodies at intermediate and high loads was mainly controlled by the hardness of counterbody.