Assessing the Tribocorrosion Performance of Nickel–Aluminum Bronze in Different Aqueous Environments

Metallic components are frequently subjected to corrosion and tribological impacts during their service period, which results in accelerated material deterioration. In this work, a systematic investigation has been conducted to study the tribocorrosion performance of nickel–aluminum bronze (NAB) in different aqueous environments, using a pin-on-disc tribometer integrated with an electrochemical workstation. Results show that the aqueous environments considerably influence the friction and wear behavior of NAB. The friction coefficient and wear rate are highest in deionized water due to its poor lubricity. When an Al2O3 pin slid against NAB in 3.5% NaCl solution and seawater, a positive synergistic effect between wear and corrosion occurred. In addition, the relative contribution of corrosion–wear synergism to the total mass loss is greater in 3.5% NaCl solution than in seawater. Also of note is that applied potential plays a significant role in determining the material degradation.