Abstract

Previous studies on the tribological performance of Si3N4 against steel and cast iron at room temperature have shown that tribochemical reactions, plástic deformation and microfracture control the dominant wear mechanisms, The factors are related to intrinsic factors, such as porosity and intergranular phase volume, and extrinsic parameters. such as humidity, sliding speed and contact load, ln the present work, unlubricated pin-on-disk experiments of Si3N4-SiC(w) / gray cast iron were performed al 5N of normal load, 2m/s of sliding speed at room temperature. The morphological characterization of the worn surfaces of the pins ceramics composites and the wear debris was performed using a scanning electrón microscope (SEM) with chemical analysis (EDS). Depending upon the density of the ceramics composites, the dominant wear mechanisms were either abrasive polishing or tribooxidation process.