Friction behavior and wear mechanism of the PDC-CR in comparison with different friction pairs at high temperatures

The high-temperature friction and wear mechanism of the polycrystalline diamond compact with cobalt removal (PDC-CR), is still unclear. In this work, friction and wear experiments have here been carried out with PDC-CR and other compounds in the friction pairs (ZrO2, Al2O3 and GCr15) at the temperature of 300 °C by characterization methods (such as SEM, EDS and XRD). The evaluation of friction coefficient and wear rate showed that ZrO2 had the worst wear resistance at a high temperature, while Al2O3 showed an excellent wear resistance. In addition, the friction and wear mechanism between other compounds in the friction pair and the PDC-CR were also analyzed. The results showed that the different friction pairs showed different tribological properties against wear. The friction and wear mechanism of the PDC-CR at high temperatures were related to the D-D and D-Co bonds during sintering. High temperatures may have led to softening of the materials at the friction interface, or the melting of wear particles, which led to the reduction in wear resistance. It is anticipated that the outcomes of this study will offer theoretical guidance for future engineering applications of PDC-CR.