Research on tribological properties of new Ni-based single crystal alloy containing Re

Abstract

The particles in high-temperature and high-speed airflow in the battlefield environment will form sliding friction and wear on the aeroengine turbine blades, thus reducing the service performance of the blades. However, few studies has been reported on the tribological properties of Ni-based single crystal alloy. Accordingly, the tribological properties of Ni-based single crystal alloys with different contents of Re (0 wt.%, 1.5 wt.%, 2.5 wt.%, 3.5 wt.%, 4.5 wt.% and 5.5 wt.%) are investigated by tribological experiments and molecular dynamics simulations in this paper. The results of tribological experiments show that Ni-based single crystal alloy without Re exhibits the characteristics of abrasive wear and adhesive wear, while the wear state is significantly improved after adding Re element. In particular, the worn surface of Ni-based single crystal alloy containing 5.5% Re (NSCA5) is the smoothest and only a few minor defects are observed. In addition, the micro-tribological characteristics of Ni-based single crystal alloy are analyzed by molecular dynamics simulations, the results show that Re atoms can inhibit the dislocation movement and reduce the system potential energy, which enhance the stability and hardness of Ni-based single crystal alloy, thereby the wear resistance of the material are improved.