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• The Co-based alloy/WC/CaF 2 composite coating is fabricated by laser cladding to improve the fretting wear resistance. • The surface microhardness of the composite coating can reach to 600 HV. • The fretting wear resistance are significantly improved, which can lead to the decrease of the COF and the wear loss. • This work guide for the protection of heat transfer tube in nuclear power plants. The coating fabricated by laser cladding on the surface has been an effective way to strengthen and enhance the wear resistance of alloys. However, the traditional Co-based alloy coatings rarely pay attention to the addition of self-lubrication constituents to form the composite coating. In addition, the effects of the Co-based composite coating on fretting wear resistance were few addressed. In this study, a Co-based alloy/WC/CaF 2 composite coating was fabricated by laser cladding on the surface of 316 stainless steel to improve the surface hardness and self-lubrication performance. The microstructure, phase constituents and fretting wear resistance at both room temperature (RT) and 500 °C were investigated. Results confirm that the composite coating is consisting of α-Co, Cr 23 C 6 and WC phases. And the F element is effectively dissolved into the α-Co phase. The fabricated composite coating is dense and uniform. The microhardness of the composite coating can reach to 600 HV 0.2 due to the presence of WC and Cr 23 C 6 phase. In addition, the grain refinement is another reason resulting in the higher microhardness. Fretting tests demonstrate that the fretting wear resistance at both RT and 500 °C are significantly improved by the composite coating, which can lead to the decrease of the COF and the wear loss. The lower COF can be ascribed to the dissolved F element in α-Co phase, especially at high fretting temperature. Additionally, the composite coating can effectively prevent the oxidation during fretting both at RT and 500 °C. This work provides an excellent method for the metallic materials to improve fretting wear resistance at both RT and high temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heat transfer tubes in nuclear power plants are easily damaged by fretting wear. The fretting behaviour of the heat transfer tube related to the lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) alloys needs to be investigated. In this work, the effect of pre-immersion corrosion in LBE of AISI 316 stainless steel on fretting behaviour is explored in detail. Following short-duration corrosion (specimens denoted C0 and PC1), no significant change occurred during corrosion, and after the fretting test, the wear scars were shallow, with adhesive wear being the dominant wear mechanism. Following long-duration corrosion (specimens denoted PC2 and PC3), the dissolution of Ni and the formation of an oxide layer were the main corrosion mechanisms. After the fretting tests, the wear scars were deep, demonstrating a degraded anti-wear property, and fretting fatigue wear was dominant. The degradation of the fretting wear resistance in specimens PC2 and PC3 can be attributed to the absence of the protection of NiO in the tribolayer, the large grain size, and the weak plastic deformation accommodation ability. The underlying mechanism is the dissolution of Ni induced by pre-immersion corrosion in the LBE. The present work provides useful information on the fretting behaviour of heat-transfer tubes in nuclear power plants related to the LBE environment. • The dissolution of Ni element and the formation of oxide layer are main corrosion mechanisms in LBE. • The pre-immersion corrosion behaviour results in a larger wear loss in the fretting behaviour. • The effect of pre-immersion corrosion on fretting wear mechanisms are illustrated systematically. • This work guide for the protection of heat transfer tube in nuclear power plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fretting behaviors of a metastable β titanium alloy with three kinds of microstructures were studied. Special attentions have been paid to the underlying wear mechanism mediated by fretting conditions and microstructural features. The wear volume is more sensitive to the stroke amplitude rather than the normal loading. The mixed abrasive-adhesive wear is dominated in all fretting samples. The microstructural features make a significant contribution to the difference in the wear resistance and subsurface microstructure stability. Due to a large difference in the grain size and the ability of plastic deformation in adjacent grains, the SM (single-phase microstructure) sample is more favorable to initiation and propagation of cracks. The DM (duplex microstructure) and BM (basketweave microstructure) samples, however, have a high resistance ability to fretting wear and subsurface microstructure stability. This can be attributed to the large amounts of the β/α interfaces and the dispersed orientation distribution of α precipitates. The present work offers valuable experimental data for the prediction of fatigue life after fretting. • The fretting behaviors are evidenced to connect with coupling effect of microstructural features and fretting conditions. • The fretting wear volume is more sensitive to the stroke amplitude rather than the normal loading. • The microstructural origins of fretting wear mechanisms are illustrated systematically. • Microstructure features dependence on the subsurface microstructure stability is revealed in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]