Investigation of the Elevated Temperature Tribological Property and Wear Mechanism of Fe–15Cu–0.8C Materials Containing Mo‐Coated MoS₂ Powders

Herein, MoS₂ solid lubricant is introduced in the form of Mo‐coated MoS₂ powder, to enhance the antifriction properties of sintered ferrous antifriction materials (FAMs). The microstructure, phase composition, and tribological properties of Fe–15Cu–0.8C–3.75 (Mo‐coated MoS₂) (MC1) are investigated and compared with Fe–15Cu–0.8C (M0) samples, with a discussion on the wear mechanism at a wide temperature range of room temperature to 600 °C. The study reveals that the addition of Mo‐coated MoS₂ powders effectively prevents the decomposition of MoS₂ during sintering, enhances the bonding strength between MoS₂ and the substrate, and significantly improves the hardness of the sintered Fe–15Cu–0.8C samples. In comparison with the sintered Fe–15Cu–0.8C samples, the sintered Fe–15Cu–0.8C–3.75 (Mo‐coated MoS₂) samples exhibit good antifriction properties with a frictional coefficient of 0.23 at 600 °C and a wear rate of 6.3 × 10⁻⁷mm³ N m⁻¹ at 300 °C. Introducing Mo‐coated MoS₂ significantly reduces the average friction coefficient and wear rate of the sintered FAMs at elevated temperatures, attributed to the formation of FeMoO₄. The antifriction performance of MC1 samples notably decreases with increasing test temperatures. The main wear mechanism is oxidative wear above 300 °C.