Sliding wear experiments on clad gold-nickel material systems lubricated with a 6-ring polyphenyl ether

This paper presents sliding wear data collected on clad 96% Au-4% Ni and 90% Au-10% Ni material systems, with and without a flash gold outer layer. These material systems are under evaluation for unlubricated and lubricated sliding wear durability. The lubricant used was a 6-ring polyphenyl ether. The material systems were lubricated by dipping them in a 2% to 3% solution by volume of the 6 ring polyphenyl ether (OS 138) mixed with propylene glycol monomethyl ether. A connector pin and a bent metal strip that had been clad with the Au-Ni material system were mated to form a pseudo-crossed rod configuration. The metal strip was formed with a small radius of curvature, hemi-cylindrical, bent to produce a linear contact surface perpendicular to the pin. This pseudo-crossed rod configuration was used to approximate a pin/socket type contact. Sliding wear experiments were conducted at 150 g normal force. The amplitude of the motion was 2.5 mm with a velocity of 2.5 mm/s. Sliding wear tests were conducted until either the dynamic friction coefficient exceeded 0.4 or until reaching 1000 sliding wear cycles. Three different series of experiments were conducted during this sliding wear research project. These series included unlubricated, lubricated and partially lubricated experiments.