Abstract

Tribological tests were carried out on four Ti-TiC composite samples to investigate the tribological behaviour of this alloy and the influence of sintering parameters on it. The samples were sintered by SPS using a high voltage electrical discharge. The general sintering parameters of the samples are temperature – 1100°C, heating rate – 10 °C/s, heating time – 3 min, initial pulse current – 260 A, maximum pulse current – 500 A. The different parameters are as follows: the number of pulses used for the first and fourth samples is 1000, for the second and third samples 2000; for the first and second samples a 1 electrode system was used, for the third and fourth samples a 3-electrode system. The hardness of the samples was measured using the Vickers method. The first specimen, sintered with 1000 pulses and 1 electrode system, has the highest hardness of 456.84 HV10. This is related to the fact that this sample showed the best tribological properties: the lowest friction coefficient of 0.39 and the lowest wear rate of 6.4∙10-4 mm3/Nm. It was observed that the samples sintered with 1000 pulses had lower average coefficients of friction: the average coefficients of friction of the first and fourth samples are 0.39 and 0.48 respectively, while the second and third samples are 0.54 and 0.51 respectively. The friction and wear characteristics of the first specimen, which has the best tribological properties, were compared with those of a Ti-Al-V alloy widely used in aviation. The Ti-TiC sample showed a better friction coefficient and better wear characteristics.