Two body dry abrasive wear of TiC–NiMo cermets

The present paper covers the two body dry abrasive wear of a series of titanium carbide base cermets with different amounts of NiMo binder phases (20–60 wt-%) using a ‘block on abrasive grinding wheel’ test machine. The wear coefficient of the cermets decreases with increasing TiC and Mo contents in the composite, which corresponds to an increase in bulk hardness. The volume loss increases with the increases in the sliding distance and the applied normal load, as predicted by the Rabinowitcz equation. The post-run wear tracks of the worn blocks were analysed by SEM to determine the wear mechanisms. The material is actually removed by several processes which scale the process of groove formation, including the formation of subsurface cracks by a fatigue process under repeated abrasion.