Key Technologies and Research Progress of Cemented Carbide Bearings in Marine Environments: Materials, Tribology and Reliability

This review provides a comprehensive evaluation of the key technologies and latest advances in cemented carbide bearings for marine environments, such as navigation equipment and deep-sea operations. Given the rigorous performance requirements imposed on bearings by the extreme conditions of marine environments, including high hydrostatic pressure, seawater corrosion and abrasive wear, this paper explores the developments within carbide material systems. It focuses on analyzing the limitations of traditional WC-Co alloys in seawater, as well as the potential and challenges of alternative binder systems such as WC-Ni and WC-high Entropy Alloys (HEAs) in enhancing corrosion resistance and comprehensive mechanical properties. Building on this foundation, the research sorts out the tribological behavior of cemented carbides under seawater lubrication, explaining the influence of the tribocorrosion mechanism on friction characteristics. Meanwhile, it also explores reliability enhancement strategies through surface modifications like coatings and texturing, and discusses the challenges associated with life prediction models. Through tribopair experiments between cemented carbides and various bearing materials, the application orientation of cemented carbides is clarified, which provides a selection framework for carbide bearing applications in different marine scenarios. Finally, the paper summarizes the current technological bottlenecks and core scientific issues, offering insights for future research and development directions in this field.