Dry Sliding Wear Behavior of Fe3Al Intermetallics Prepared by Mechanical Alloying and Hot Pressing

Fe(3)Al intermetallics with different Al contents were prepared by mechanical alloying and hot pressing. The phases and dry sliding wear behavior were studied. The results show that Fe(3)Al bulk materials are mainly characterized by the low ordered B2 structure. The wear resistance increased with increasing Al content, with the lowest volume loss of Fe-32Al and irregular value of Fe-30Al. There were obvious differences in wear mechanisms of sintered Fe(3)Al under different testing conditions. Under lower loads plastic deformation occurred on the wear surface and the wear performance is mainly particle abrasion, the characteristics of which are micro cutting and furrows. With higher loads, the stress concentration led to rapid crack propagation and eventually the fatigue fracture, which was characterized by brittle split of material.