Impact of Heating Rate on the Tribological and Corrosion Properties of AISI 52100 Bearing Steel Consolidated via Spark Plasma Sintering

This study investigates the influence of heating rate on the tribological and corrosion properties of 52100 bearing steel samples consolidated via spark plasma sintering. The consolidation was conducted at different heating rates of 50, 100, 200, 300, and 400 degrees C/min and the thermomechanical properties of the resulting samples were characterized. Ball-on-disc tribological tests and electrochemical techniques were used to evaluate the wear and corrosion resistance, respectively. The results showed that an increased heating rate positively affects the thermomechanical and tribological properties of 52100 bearing steel. The sintered samples exhibited a low coefficient of friction (between 0.4 and 0.56) and a low wear rate (between 1.4 and 1.8 x 10(-6) mm(3)/Nm) at heating rates between 100 and 400 degrees C/min. Furthermore, the corrosion resistance of the samples gradually drops above the heating rate of 100 degrees C/min. The samples can be ranked in the order of decreasing corrosion resistance thus: 100> 200> 300 >400 > 50 degrees C/min. The improved corrosion resistance of the sample sintered at 100 degrees C/min can be attributed to its refined crystal size and high density.

Automated summary

The study found that increasing the heating rate has a positive effect on the thermomechanical and tribological properties of 52100 bearing steel, with sintered samples at heating rates between 100 and 400 degrees C/min showing lower friction coefficients and wear rates.