Study on tribological performance of the CoCrNi-doped SiC self-lubricating composites under dry and lubricated conditions

For CoCrNi medium entropy alloy (MEA) with desired mechanical properties, its underperforming tribological properties have become a barrier to technical applications. In contrast to the introduction of extrinsic lubricants, this paper proposes a novel and simple strategy that several advanced CoCrNi-based self-lubricating and wear-resistant composites were fabricated by doping SiC precursors to in-situ introduce self-lubricating and reinforcement components. The self-lubricating composite reaches dry coefficient of friction (COF) 0.23 and ultra-low wear rate 8.1 × 10⁻⁶ mm³N⁻¹m⁻¹ (about 1/30 of CoCrNi MEA). It have robust adaptability to multiple lubes simultaneously, and the COF is rapidly stable to about 0.1. Because composite contains moderate lubricating, anti-wear and plasticity phases, which providing optimal trade-off between anti-friction and wear-resistance under different friction conditions.