Effect of Heat Treatment on Tribological Characteristics of Nickel

Aluminum Bronze

M. K. Yaseena, M. Mansoorb, H. A. Ansaric, Sajawal Hussaind

Institute of Industrial Control Systems, P.O. Box 1398, Rawalpindi, Pakistan
a
kamran.met@gmail.com, bmalik01677@yahoo.com,

Keywords: Aluminum bronze, wet wear, alpha phase, kappa phase.

Abstract
Al bronze are the choice of material for relatively high wear applications besides appreciable mechanical
and corrosion properties. In present work, the effect of different heat treatment processes on tribological
characteristics of Ni-Al bronze (CuAl10Ni5Fe4, UNS C63000) has been studied. The hot rolled bar of
30 mm diameter was subjected to annealing, quenching and aging processes separately, consequently
their effect on microstructure was studied and co-related with tribological characteristics. The formation
and nucleation of various phases due to the thermal treatments were observed using optical microscopy.
The wear behavior was studied using ball on disk arrangement with 100Cr6 ball and Ni-Al Bronze
samples as disk. The characteristics and mechanism of wear track was studied using scanning electron
microscope. It was observed that the water quenched sample followed by aging at 300°C exhibited best
tribological characteristics.

1. Introduction

Copper alloys containing 9-12% aluminum, up to 6% each of iron and nickel represent a most important
group of commercial aluminum bronzes. They also contain small amounts of manganese. Along with
high strength, superior esthetics and good damping capacity (twice than that of steel), it exhibits good
resistance to corrosion and wear, which makes it one of the most useful engineering materials of
its class. Al bronze finds their widespread applications in aerospace, marine, architecture and oil sectors
which include landing gear bushes and bearings of aircrafts, non-sparking tools in oils and gas industries
and pleasing facades in architecture etc. [1].i

CuAl10Ni5Fe4 aluminum bronze has a two phase microstructure i.e. poor formability α phase and
excellent hot formability β phase. It had poor cold formability due to rapid work hardening but shows
good hot formability in α+β region. However, alloy could be hot worked between 700 ᵒC to 900 ᵒCii,iii
[2, 3]. Phase α is copper rich stable solid solution having FCC structure which gives ductility to the alloy.
Phase β is an intermediate solid solution having random BCC structure which undergoes martensitic
 transformation upon rapid cooling from 1010 ᵒC to 700 ᵒC. The dark etched, needle like martensite called
β’ has an approximately HCP structure. In addition to α and β phases, various other inter-metallic kappa
phases (κ) formed in microstructure at various temperatures. These kappa inter-metallic phases are κi,
κii, κiii, κiv and κv with different chemical composition, shape and properties. κi, κii and κiv are based on
Fe3Cl and have DO3 structure, whereas, κiii and κv are based on NiAl having B2 structure. The phase
diagram of Cu and Al having 5% of each Ni and Fe is shown in figire-1. The schematic of each phase
present in the alloy is shown in figure-2 iv,v,vi,vii [4-7].

Figure-1 Vertical section of the Cu-Al-Ni-Fe Figure-2 Diagrammatic representations of the

system at 5% each Ni and Fe various phases in a type 80-10-5-5 cast aluminum
bronze

Depending upon the application, CuAl10Ni5Fe4 alloy may undergo various heat treatments including
annealing, quenching from α+β region or aging to acquire different level of hardness and
microstructuresviii. The relative amounts of different phases and grain size corresponding to specific heat
treatment parameters influence wear properties of the alloyiv. Unfortunately, the parameters of heat
treatment are not known yet which gives best wear properties [iv]. In current study, the hot pressed alloy
was heated to 930 ᵒC followed by furnace cool, air cool, quenching in water and aging at 300 C. The
microstructure, relative percentages of α and β phases and hardness of samples including individual
phases were studied and correlated with wear test results.
 2. Experimental

Hot forged bar having 30 mm diameter was used for the experiment. The aluminum bronze
(CuAl10Ni5Fe4, UNS C63000) having 9.5% Al, 5.2% Ni, 4.9% Fe and 1.2% Mn was used. Disks,
having 30 mm diameter and 5 mm thickness, were hated in electrically heated tube type furnace at 930
ᵒC for 30 minute. 1st disk was allowed to cool in the furnace, 2nd disk was air cooled and 3rd disk was
quenched in water followed by aging at 300 C. 4th disk was not heat treated and used in hot forged
condition in further experiment. All disks were grinded and polished up to 0.05 micron alumina paste
and observed under optical microscope. Grain size and relative percentage of individual phases were also
determined using Olympus-Stream Motion software. The polished disks were also subjected to Brinell
hardness testing and micro Vickers hardness testing to determine the hardness of individual phases
present in the microstructure. The surface roughness of polished samples was measured with surface
profilometer. The weight of disks was measured using electronic balance having accuracy up to four
decimals. The tribological characteristics of the samples were determined with ball on disk setup. A ball
of 100Cr6, having 5 mm diameter was used. 5 N load was applied with travelling distance of 500 m. The
weight of disks was again measured on same weight balance. Furthermore, the wear tracks of all samples
were observed under scanning electron microscope and their features were correlated with microstructure
of samples and corresponding mechanism of wear.

3. Results and Discussion

3.1 Microstructure and Hardness

The polished samples were etched with Kroll’s reagent and observed under optical microscope. The
microstructures of hot forged, furnace cooled, air cooled, quenched and aged at 300 ᵒC are given in
Figure-1. The microstructure of hot forged samples consists of light grains of fine α having small amount
of κII, surrounded by dissociated β which consist of α + κIII. The micro hardness of dissociated β phase
was 290 Hv and it comprises almost 60 % of total area in the microstructure. The microstructure of
furnace cooled sample from 930 ᵒC contains α grains having 35 µm average grain size with κII
precipitates, and non-equilibrium needle like β’ phase. The micro hardness of α phase was 130 Hv as κII
precipitates were present within the α grains. The micro-hardness of dissociated β was 190 HV with area
fraction of about 37%. The sample cooled in air from 930 ᵒC comprises white grains of α phase having
32 µm average grain size and fine κII precipitates. Due to relatively fast cooling than furnace cooled
sample, the proportion of the β’ is high at the expense of the proportion of α. Moreover, a small fraction
of β phase is also retained in the microstructure which is darker in color as compared to β’. The micro-
hardness of α phase was 110 Hv with area fraction of almost 61 %. The micro-hardness of β’ was 210
Hv with area fraction of 39% of the microstructure. The quenched and aged sample has white α grains
with κII phase near grain boundaries, martensitic β’ phase having κIV precipitates which provide hardness
to the material. The micro-hardness of phase α and β’ were 140 Hv and 410 Hv respectively. The α phase
comprises almost 43% area fraction of the micro-structure and rest was β’. The micro-structures of all
samples are given in Figure-2. The grain size, area percentage and hardness of samples are given in
Table-1, Table-2 and Table-3.

Figure-2 Micrographs of Al-Bronze in (a) Hot forged (b) Furnace Cooled (c) Air Cooled and (d)
Quenched and aged at 300 ᵒC
 Table-2 Grain Size and Relative percentage of phases

Grain Size of α Percentage of Percentage of

Sample
[µm] α β
Hot Forged - 40 60
Furnace Cooled 35 63 37
Air Cooled 32 61 39
Quenched +
29 43 57
Aged at 300 C

Table-3 Hardness of Bulk material and individual phases

Micro Hardness of α Micro hardness of β’

Sample Hardness (HB)
(Hv) (Hv)
Hot Forged 260 270 - 290

Furnace Cooled 180 130 Hv 190

Air Cooled 210 110 210

Quenched + Aged at 320 140 Hv 410 Hv

300 C

3.2 Wear Testing

The results of tribo measurements are given in Figure-3. The surface roughness (RA value) of hot forged,
furnace cooled, air cooled and quenched and tempered samples was 0.05µm, 0.07 µm, 0.05 µm and 0.08
µm respectively.

The values of coefficient of friction are given in Table-4:

Table-4

Sample Coefficient of Friction

Hot Forged 0.27
Furnace Cooled 0.056
Air Cooled 0.08
Quenched + Aged at 300 C 0.13
 Hot Forged Furnace Cooled

Air Cooled Quenched + Aged

Figure-3 Wear behavior of samples showing coefficient of friction (µ) against time (a) Hot forged (b)
Furnace Cooled (c) Air Cooled and (d) Quenched and aged at 300 ᵒC

Wear rate of all samples was same as no appreciable weight loss was observed in any case. However,
coefficient of friction of furnace cooled and air cooled samples was lowest and comparable.

g mg
0.0014 0.14 Furnace Cooled
0.001 0.1 Air Cooled
0.0007 0.07 Qunched + Aged
0.0014 0.14 Hot Forged
 3.4 Scanning Electron Microscopy

The wear tracks of samples were observed using scanning electron microscope. The results are given in
Figure-4
Figure-4 SEM micrographs of wear tracts of samples showing wear mechanisms (a) Hot forged (b)
Furnace Cooled (c) Air Cooled and (d) Quenched and aged at 300 ᵒC

The features of adhesive wear were observed in all samples, but each sample had its own characteristic
feature which was related to their respective microstructure and hardness. In CuAl10Ni5Fe5 proportion
of α and its grain size has a significant effect on tribological properties. Best wear resistance observed
when α phase comprises 67% of the structure with 33-45 µm grain size. High proportion of α and large
grain size make the material softer, which results in high coefficient of friction. Similarly, high proportion
of β’ and small grain size of α, make material hard, brittle and prone to abrasion and deterioration. In
such conditions; hard κ particles may become dislodged from the α phase and cause abrasion and wearii.

Conclusion

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