Wear characteristics, reduction techniques and its application in automotive parts – A review

Abstract

Wear phenomenon impact the operating efficiency and service life of engineering materials due to the influence of surface interaction at different working conditions. Successive tribological studies on wear-resistant materials in the last decade is estimated at approximately 40% of friction and wear, including laboratory tests. Most locally improvised wear testers in accordance with American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) and European (EN) standards, though, achieve 95–97% parametric accuracies with reduced cost, they hardly harmonize degradation and Archards coefficients for all possible wear factors, providing little data for simulation of mechanical and chemical wears which are responsible for non-uniform aggregation of wear patterns in practice. Complexities of intermeshing factors which combine to influence the effectiveness of developed test devices span over loads, speeds, temperatures, pressures, and ambience for various applications. This study highlights the techniques of wear characterization, test standards, and wear reduction with emphasis on surface texturing for improved eta/beta phase re-arrangements at low working temperatures in the enhancement of grain contraction during high bias-voltage cathodic substrate multi-phase coating, phosphating during pretreatments using peening techniques, residual stress reduction during cryogenic heat treatments as well as the impact of suitable architectural matrix composite strengthening, microstructures, and material reinforcements as suitable factors to influence improved tribological behaviors in materials. Optimal additive manufacturing (AM‐fabricating) techniques with pretreatments, thermal cycling, and tempering can engineer enhanced anti-tribocorrosion in automotive components.

Keywords:

• ASTM and EN Standards
• Materials
• Reduction techniques
• Wear
• Automotive components

PUBLIC INTEREST STATEMENT

This research is aimed at providing a basis and state-of-the-art review on wear characteristics, test, reduction techniques, and application in automotive parts. It highlights existing test standards (ASTM and EN) from which other developed wear test devices accuracies are measured and points at the limitations, for example, high sensitivity level in varying load, speeds, temperature, pressures, and ambience which should be factored in the improvised test devices, to scale-up their standards for various applications. It highlights the importance of surface engineering through surface coating, texturing or layering, hardening and architecture, as well as composition strengthening of microstructure and reinforcements as a means to promote anti-tribocorrosion of materials. It then highlights the influence of pretreatments like Laser shock peening which can cause considerable reduction in electrochemical corrosion by approximately 80%, and cryogenic heat treatment (especially deep cryogenic heat treatment) as a means to enhance mechanical properties of materials due to reduction residual stress and coefficient of friction, improve of anti-wear, hardness, toughness, and fatigue resistance in automotive parts. This paper provides unalloyed and intrinsic information for the development of reliable and reproducible local wear test devices and automotive parts with high anti-wear properties in extreme environment. The reliable data so provided can lead to robust analysis from big data provided through this wear testing systems.

List of Abbreviations

AM – Additive manufacturing

ASTM – American Society for Testing and Materials

EN – European

EDXS – Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy

PDC – Polymer Derived Ceramic

XPS – X-ray photoelectron microscopy

TEM – Transmission Electron Microscopy

CR-AFM – Contact Resonance AFM

BTR – Blind Tip Reconstruction

FCC – Face Cubic Centered

SPD – Severe Plastic Deformation

AHSS – Advanced High-Strength Steel

SEM/LM – Scanning Electron Microscopy/Light Microscopy

HV – Vickers Hardness

B^1-xC^x – Amorphous Boron Carbide

MoS₂ – Molybdenum disulphide

CrFeCoNiMo – Alloy

CNTs – Carbon Nanotubes

DLC –Diamond-like Carbon

Ti₃C₂Tx – Titanium Carbide

Si₃N₄ – Silicon Nitride

WC-Co – Tungsten Carbide-Cobalt

TiC – Titanium Carbide

TiN – Titanium Nitride

Zr – Zirconium

HNO₃ – Nitric Acid

CoF – Coefficient of Friction

ICE – Internal Combustion Engine

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Luke O. Ajuka

Luke O. Ajuka is a Lecturer in the Department of Automotive Engineering, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. He holds B.Eng., M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering. He has published papers on refrigeration and automotive systems. His research interests include HVAC systems, energy, characterizations, applied nanotechnology, automotive fuel and systems.

Temitayo S. Ogedengbe

Temitayo S. Ogedengbe, PhD is a Lecturer in the department of Mechanical Engineering, Nile University, Abuja, Nigeria. He earned his Ph.D degree at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria. His research interests include additive manufacturing, machining, material processing, processing using agro-wastes powders, surface modifications, characterizations, welding and nanotechnology.

Timothy Adeyi

Timothy Adeyi holds B.Eng. and M.Sc. degrees in Mechanical Engineering and lectures at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Lead City University, Ibadan, Nigeria. He is currently pursuing his PhD at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria.

Omolayo M. Ikumapayi

Omolayo M. Ikumapayi, PhD is a Senior Lecturer in the department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, Nigeria. He earned his Ph.D degree at the Department of Mechanical Engineering Science, University of Johannesburg South Africa. His research interests include additive manufacturing, simulation, processing using agro-wastes powders, surface modifications, characterizations, tribocorrossion, Friction stir processing/welding, automation, mechatronics, and nanotechnology.

Esther T. Akinlabi

Esther T. Akinlabi is currently a Full Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Construction Engineering and Deputy Faculty Pro Vice-Chancellor, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment (FEBE), Northumbria University, United Kingdom. She has authored several peer-reviewed scholarly Journals, Books, and Book Chapters. Her areas of interests are in Energy, Friction Stir Welding/Processing, additive manufacturing, laser manufacturing, AutoCAD, Research Design etc.