Investigation on Corrosion–Wear Interaction Behavior of 8Cr4Mo4V-Bearing Steel Under Various Operating Conditions

Coupled corrosion and wear damage in marine atmospheric environment seriously restricts the development of aerospace bearings, the aim of present work is to study the influence of various corrosion and wear conditions on the corrosion–wear interaction behavior of 8Cr4Mo4V-bearing steel. The influence of corrosion on wear and wear on corrosion for 8Cr4Mo4V-bearing steel under five corrosion temperatures, NaCl concentrations, rotational speeds, and normal loads was investigated and discussed, respectively, and the quantitative characterization of corrosion–wear interaction (CWI) effect was established. The corroded steels were prepared using salt spray corrosion, a ball-on-disc friction testing machine was used to obtain the coefficient of friction (COF) of corroded steels under dry wear. The corrosion weight losses, wear mass losses, and worn surface morphologies of corroded steels were characterized. The results show that both synergistic and antagonistic effects existed in CWI of 8Cr4Mo4V-bearing steel due to coupling action of corrosion pits and rust layers, which depends on operating conditions. The corrosion temperature and NaCl concentration directly affect the friction stability and corrosion contribution for tribological process via initial corrosion surface, while rotational speed and normal load influence the wear contribution for corrosion process through surface wear degree. This paper gives an idea for analysis of tribocorrosion properties of bearing steel under various alternating corrosion and wear operating conditions.