The effect of temperature on gross slip fretting wear of cold-sprayed nickel coatings on Ti6Al4V interfaces

Fretting wear is an accumulation of damage that occurs at component interfaces that are subjected to high contact stresses coupled with low-amplitude oscillation. In metallic contacts, surface oxides, adhesion, and material transfer play a primary role in the initial stages of fretting wear degradation. Given these behaviors, the focus of this study was to determine the effect of temperature on inter-metallic fretting wear between Ti6Al4V (titanium, 6% aluminum, 4% vanadium) and cold-sprayed, commercially pure nickel coatings. The results presented herein show that increased temperature decreases friction through the formation of a uniform NiO layer, and by a reduction of Ni₂O₃ in contacts. In addition, it was found that a localized minimum friction coefficient is achieved at approximately 300 °C, above which friction increases slightly due to annealing of the cold-sprayed coatings.