Spinel oxide enables high-temperature self-lubrication in superalloys
Abstract The ability to lubricate and resist wear at temperatures above 600 °C in an oxidative environment remains a significant challenge for metals due to their high-temperature softening, oxidation, and rapid degradation of traditional solid lubricants. Herein, we demonstrate that high-temperatur...
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Nature Portfolio
2024-11-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-54482-w |
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| author | Zhengyu Zhang Eitan Hershkovitz Qi An Liping Liu Xiaoqing Wang Zhifei Deng Garrett Baucom Wenbo Wang Jing Zhao Ziming Xin Lowell Moore Yi Yao Md Rezwan Ul Islam Xin Chen Bai Cui Ling Li Hongliang Xin Lin Li Honggyu Kim Wenjun Cai |
| author_facet | Zhengyu Zhang Eitan Hershkovitz Qi An Liping Liu Xiaoqing Wang Zhifei Deng Garrett Baucom Wenbo Wang Jing Zhao Ziming Xin Lowell Moore Yi Yao Md Rezwan Ul Islam Xin Chen Bai Cui Ling Li Hongliang Xin Lin Li Honggyu Kim Wenjun Cai |
| author_sort | Zhengyu Zhang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The ability to lubricate and resist wear at temperatures above 600 °C in an oxidative environment remains a significant challenge for metals due to their high-temperature softening, oxidation, and rapid degradation of traditional solid lubricants. Herein, we demonstrate that high-temperature lubricity can be achieved with coefficients of friction (COF) as low as 0.10-0.32 at 600-900 °C by tailoring surface oxidation in additively-manufactured Inconel superalloy. By integrating high-temperature tribological testing, advanced materials characterization, and computations, we show that the formation of spinel-based oxide layers on superalloy promotes sustained self-lubrication due to their lower shear strength and more negative formation and cohesive energy compared to other surface oxides. A reversible phase transformation between the cubic and tetragonal/monoclinic spinel was driven by stress and temperature during high temperature wear. To span Ni- and Cr-based ternary oxide compositional spaces for which little high-temperature COF data exist, we develop a computational design method to predict the lubricity of oxides, incorporating thermodynamics and density functional theory computations. Our finding demonstrates that spinel oxide can exhibit low COF values at temperatures much higher than conventional solid lubricants with 2D layered or Magnéli structures, suggesting a promising design strategy for self-lubricating high-temperature alloys. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-3bcb7bcb1c08492eaba8743f883f6478 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-3bcb7bcb1c08492eaba8743f883f64782025-08-20T02:33:08ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232024-11-0115111210.1038/s41467-024-54482-wSpinel oxide enables high-temperature self-lubrication in superalloysZhengyu Zhang0Eitan Hershkovitz1Qi An2Liping Liu3Xiaoqing Wang4Zhifei Deng5Garrett Baucom6Wenbo Wang7Jing Zhao8Ziming Xin9Lowell Moore10Yi Yao11Md Rezwan Ul Islam12Xin Chen13Bai Cui14Ling Li15Hongliang Xin16Lin Li17Honggyu Kim18Wenjun Cai19Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State UniversityDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, University of FloridaDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, Iowa State UniversityDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State UniversityDepartment of Applied Engineering, Jacksonville State UniversityDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State UniversityDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, University of FloridaDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State UniversityDepartment of Geosciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State UniversityDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State UniversityDepartment of Geosciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State UniversitySchool for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, Arizona State UniversityDepartment of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University of Nebraska-LincolnDepartment of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University of Nebraska-LincolnDepartment of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University of Nebraska-LincolnDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State UniversityDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State UniversitySchool for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, Arizona State UniversityDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, University of FloridaDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State UniversityAbstract The ability to lubricate and resist wear at temperatures above 600 °C in an oxidative environment remains a significant challenge for metals due to their high-temperature softening, oxidation, and rapid degradation of traditional solid lubricants. Herein, we demonstrate that high-temperature lubricity can be achieved with coefficients of friction (COF) as low as 0.10-0.32 at 600-900 °C by tailoring surface oxidation in additively-manufactured Inconel superalloy. By integrating high-temperature tribological testing, advanced materials characterization, and computations, we show that the formation of spinel-based oxide layers on superalloy promotes sustained self-lubrication due to their lower shear strength and more negative formation and cohesive energy compared to other surface oxides. A reversible phase transformation between the cubic and tetragonal/monoclinic spinel was driven by stress and temperature during high temperature wear. To span Ni- and Cr-based ternary oxide compositional spaces for which little high-temperature COF data exist, we develop a computational design method to predict the lubricity of oxides, incorporating thermodynamics and density functional theory computations. Our finding demonstrates that spinel oxide can exhibit low COF values at temperatures much higher than conventional solid lubricants with 2D layered or Magnéli structures, suggesting a promising design strategy for self-lubricating high-temperature alloys.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-54482-w |
| spellingShingle | Zhengyu Zhang Eitan Hershkovitz Qi An Liping Liu Xiaoqing Wang Zhifei Deng Garrett Baucom Wenbo Wang Jing Zhao Ziming Xin Lowell Moore Yi Yao Md Rezwan Ul Islam Xin Chen Bai Cui Ling Li Hongliang Xin Lin Li Honggyu Kim Wenjun Cai Spinel oxide enables high-temperature self-lubrication in superalloys Nature Communications |
| title | Spinel oxide enables high-temperature self-lubrication in superalloys |
| title_full | Spinel oxide enables high-temperature self-lubrication in superalloys |
| title_fullStr | Spinel oxide enables high-temperature self-lubrication in superalloys |
| title_full_unstemmed | Spinel oxide enables high-temperature self-lubrication in superalloys |
| title_short | Spinel oxide enables high-temperature self-lubrication in superalloys |
| title_sort | spinel oxide enables high temperature self lubrication in superalloys |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-54482-w |
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