Wear Behaviors of Stainless Steel and Lubrication Effect on Transitions in Lubrication Regimes in Sliding Contact

The wear behavior of AISI304 stainless steel was investigated under dry, water-, and oil-lubricated conditions. A block-on-disk wear test was conducted in this work, since the test conditions could be controlled easily. For oil-lubricated contact, a significant amount of thin and elongated cutting chip-like debris was observed. This is attributed to the high lubricating effect of oil. Strain-induced martensitic (SIM) transformation was observed for all AISI304 blocks after the wear test, while AISI304 consisted of a single γ-austenite phase prior to the wear test. The Stribeck curve and the corresponding lubrication regimes were also considered to explain the wear behaviors and lubrication effect of AISI304. In comparison to the dry or water-lubricated conditions, which fall in the boundary lubrication regime at a low rotation speed, it is considered that the high viscosity of the oil-based lubricant causes the lubrication condition to enter the mixed lubrication regime early at a lower speed, thus reducing the specific wear rate over the 100–300 rpm range.