A study of wear resistance of a new brush-plated alloy Ni-Fe-W-S

The tribological application of electrodeposited chromium layers has been limited owing to the decline of its wear resistance at high speed and heavy load. Electrochemical metallization by means of brush plating has been developed for the deposition of Ni-Fe-W-S alloy layers. Friction and wear tests have been conducted to study the wear characteristics of this alloy layer under conditions of dry friction, i.e. with no lubrication at the contact surface and under heavy loads. The results showed that the wear resistance of this alloy layer was superior to that of an electrodeposited chromium layer under these conditions. The microstructure and the surface morphology of this alloy layer before and after the wear process were analysed by transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The mechanisms of its excellent wear resistance under dry friction at heavy load are discussed.