High-Temperature Wear Performance of hBN-Added Ni-W Composites Produced from Combustion-Synthesized Powders

This work reports on the spark plasma sintering (SPS) of self-propagating high-temperature-synthesis (SHS)-derived Ni-W and Ni-W-2wt%hBN (4:1 molar ratio of metals) powders. The synthesis was carried out from a mixture of NiO and WO₃ using Mg + C combined reducers through a thermo-kinetic coupling approach. Experiments performed in the thermodynamically optimal area demonstrated the high sensitivity of combustion parameters and product phase composition to the amount of reducers and hBN powder. The powder precursors with and without the addition of hBN were consolidated using SPS at a temperature and pressure of 1300 °C and 50 MPa, respectively, followed by a thorough phase and microstructural characterization of the obtained specimens. SHS-derived powders comprised the nano-sized agglomerates and were characterized by a high sinterability. The specimens of >95% density were subjected to ball-on-plate dry sliding wear tests at a sliding speed of 0.1 ms^-1 and a distance of 1000 m utilizing an alumina ball of 10 mm in diameter under a 15 N normal load. The tests were performed at a temperature of 800 °C. A significant improvement in wear behavior was demonstrated for SHS-processed composites in comparison with their counterparts produced via conventional high-energy ball milling technique owing to the phenomena of 'micro-polishing', cyclic 'self-healing' and fatigue. However, the decisive effect of hBN addition in imparting lubrication during an HT wear test was not confirmed.