The synergistic lubricating mechanism of Sn-Ag-Cu and C60 on the worn surface of M50 self-lubricating material at elevated loads

Abstract The potential tribological properties of load-adaptive M50-based self-lubricating composites under various loads were investigated. Pure M50 and M50 composite containing 10 wt%(50Sn40Ag10Cu) (MSAC) samples were prepared by spark plasma sintering. Besides, samples M50 and MSAC, which were all surface-scattered with C60 microparticles, were defined as M-C and MSAC-C, respectively, and the tribological tests of M50, MSAC, M-C, and MSAC-C sliding against Si 3 N 4 ball from 2 to 18N at 0.2 m/s-350 °C were performed. Results show that MSAC-C exhibits the excellent friction and wear performance within the range of loads. Analysis indicates that this phenomenon is mainly due to the formation of a composite lubricating film rich in soft metal lubricant Sn-Ag-Cu and C60 microparticles.