Tribological Performances of Modified Babbitt Alloy Under Different Sliding Modes

Abstract This paper aims to improve wear resistance of bare Babbitt modified by CuLa and evaluates the effect of different sliding modes on tribological properties of bare Babbitt, Babbitt modified by 0.5 wt% CuLa (marked by mbabbitt-1), and Babbitt modified by 1 wt% CuLa (marked by mbabbitt-2). First, bare Babbitt was modified with different contents of CuLa. The microstructure, microhardness, and wettability of Babbitt were tested and studied. Then, the tribological properties of bare Babbitt, mBabbitt-1, and mBabbitt-2 were conducted by the reciprocating mode and unidirectional mode under the lubricated condition. The results showed that the SnSb grain of the modified Babbitt was refined and uniformly distributed. The microhardness of mBabbitt-1 was higher than that of bare Babbitt and mBabbitt-2. Compared with bare Babbitt, the wettability of mBabbitt-1 and mBabbitt-2 was improved. Anti-friction and wear resistance of specimens under the reciprocating mode were better than that of specimens under the unidirectional mode, which was attributed to low strain and equivalent stress of bare Babbitt under the reciprocating mode. Moreover, anti-wear of bare Babbitt was improved by adding CuLa due to refined grain and high microhardness.