Wear behaviors of Zr-based bulk metallic glass under different sliding durations

Zr-based bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) are recognized as promising engineering materials with superior wear resistance, originating from their excellent glass-forming ability (GFA) and distinctive mechanical properties. Thus, elucidating the tribological behaviors and mechanisms of Zr-based BMGs is of great significance. In this work, the linear reciprocating tribological behaviors of Zr 60.14 Cu 22.31 Al 9.7 Fe 4.85 Ag 3 (at%) BMG against GCr15 steel balls were characterized under different normal loads (1-15 N) and reciprocating frequencies (1-12 Hz), while the sliding durations were set to 1 min and 10 min respectively. The results indicate that the wear behavior of BMG was governed by the coupled effects of normal load and reciprocating frequency. Under low normal loads, high-frequency sliding resulted in increased COF values and enhanced fluctuations, whereas higher normal loads promoted the establishment of a stable friction regime and weakened the frequency effect. The specific wear rate generally decreased with increasing normal load but exhibited pronounced frequency dependence. The wear mechanism of BMG was dominated by adhesive wear initially, and gradually transited into a combination of adhesive wear and oxidative wear with prolonged sliding duration. This work would help to understand the time-dependent evolution of the wear behaviors of Zr-based BMGs.