LUO Rong^1,2, FENG Bo^1* , QU Shu-xin¹, LU Xiong¹, CHEN Jian-min³, ZHOU Zhong-rong^1,2

(1. Key Laboratory of Advanced Technologies of Materials, Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031, China 2. State Key Laboratory of Traction Power, Tribology Research Institute, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031, China 3. State Key Laboratory of Solid Lubrication, Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China)

Abstract: Three groups of TiO₂ nanotube layers with different inner diameters were fabricated on titanium substrate by anodization. Morphology, microhardness, nanohardness and roughness of specimen surfaces were analyzed by a scanning electron microscope, hardness instrument and surface roughometer. The fretting wear tests of specimens against a UHMWPE ball were carried out in air on a PLINT fretting fatigue machine using the ball / plane contact under four normal loads respectively. Results suggested that coefficients of friction decreased as normal load increased for the same frictional pair. The TiO₂ nanotube layers reduced the coefficients between Ti specimen and UHMWPE. Under different normal load, the coefficients increased as the nanotube diameter increased. The friction coefficients of nanotube specimens were lower than that of the contrast. In sliding against UHMWPE, TiO₂ nanotube layers had good of load-bearing, anti-stripping and wear-resistant properties. The wear mechanism of the frictional pair involved abrasive wear and material loss on surface layer resulted from UHMWPE plastic deformation.

Key words: TiO₂ nanotube layers;　nanotube diameter ; UHMWPE ; fretting wear

E-mail: fengbo@swjtu.edu.cn 

Tribology, Vol. 30, Issue 5, 2010, 491~497