Friction and Wear of Sintered Alumina at High Temperature

The frictional behavior of alumina ceramics was investigated at various temperatures up to 1200°C. The coefficient of friction decreased with increasing temperature and this temperature dependency became more pronounced as higher contact pressures were applied. Wear loss at room temperature could be interpreted as being caused by one of either two different behavior modes. These have a rate difference of a factor of ten. At temperatures higher than 800°C, the wear loss was far less than that at lower temperatures and a smooth, flat friction face, which should be responsible for the low friction coefficient and small wear loss, was observed.