Microstructure, phase and tribocorrosion behavior of 60NiTi alloy

Deep understanding the tribocorrosion performance of metal materials used in marine engineering offers an important guarantee to keep marine facilities run in safety, reliable and long-term. 60NiTi alloy possesses a unique set of desirable properties such as high hardness, excellent corrosion resistance and high specific strength which makes it quite suitably in marine environment. However, there is lack of investigation on the tribocorrosion behavior and mechanism of 60NiTi alloy. Therefore, systematic tribocorrosion tests including potentiodynamic polarization and open circuit potential under sliding contact were carried out to achieve a comprehensive understanding for the tribocorrosion performance of 60NiTi alloy. The wear track surfaces were analyzed by a field emission scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersion spectrum (EDS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results clearly reveal that the negative synergy of tribology and electrochemistry/chemistry accelerates the material loss. The corresponded mechanism was also discussed in details.