Wear 263 (2007) 727735

Microstructural aspects of wear in soft tribological alloys

R. Schouwenaars , V.H. Jacobo, A. Ortiz
Department of Mechanical Engineering, DIMEI, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico,
Avenida Universidad 3000, 04510 Coyocacan, Mexico D.F., Mexico
Received 13 August 2006; received in revised form 30 November 2006; accepted 9 December 2006
Available online 23 May 2007

Abstract
Soft tribological alloys, based on the AlSn and CuPb systems, have been used for decades in journal bearings, but detailed studies on the
interaction between wear and microstructures in such materials are rare. This work analyses a series of laboratory tests and case studies to elucidate
the relationship between wear and the underlying microstructural processes in these alloys. SEM-results of sections through the tribolayer reveal
two important processes. While the tribological compatibility between the materials prevents the formation of a transfer layer, auto-transfer of
seized bearing material onto the bearing surface is common under severe loading conditions. This results in mechanical mixing of the alloy
components, producing metastable and driven phases in the tribolayer. A simple analysis based on the free energy of mixing provides qualitative
understanding of these effects. The second feature is formed by localised zones of severe plastic deformation showing pronounced vorticity. These
are distinguished from other documented vortices formed during wear by the fact that their axis is parallel to the sliding direction and by the large
strain level and may be explained by cyclic plasticity, induced by hydrodynamic pressure oscillations due to asperities on the rotating shaft.
2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Journal bearing; Tribolayer; Mechanical alloying; Plastic vortex; Slip line field; Thermodynamic stability

1. Introduction
With more than 109 bearing shells produced annually [1],
journal bearings can hardly be considered a niche product. They
consist of a cylindrical steel shell with a thin overlay of what
will be called a soft tribological alloy, which typically has
a thickness of 0.2 mm. As a consequence, a common bearing
uses only between 1 and 10 g of overlay, resulting in a lowvolume product with high added value. The first designated soft
triboalloys (patented by Isaac Babbit in 1839 [2]) were based on
the PbSbSn system. If used as overlays, they are directly cast
onto the steel strip [3]. Their low strength and low melting point
prohibit their use in fast-running engines and the toxicity of their
components presents environmental and occupational hazards.
Electroplated Babbit is still extensively used as a coating to
protect CuPb alloys from corrosion. In CuPb alloys, the Cuphase provides strength and ductility and a reticular network of
Pb provides the anti-friction and anti-adhesion characteristics
found in Babbits. CuPb was partially substituted by AlSn and

Corresponding author. Tel.: +52 55 56 22 80 57; fax: +52 55 56 22 80 58.

E-mail address: raf schouwenaars@yahoo.com (R. Schouwenaars).

0043-1648/$ see front matter 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.wear.2006.12.037

AlPb alloys due to copper shortages during the Second World

War. Al-based alloys now predominate in European and Asian
markets for compact engines.
All important soft triboalloys have been developed in the first
half of the 20th century, i.e. prior to the introduction of dislocation theory [4] and electron microscopy [5] into mainstream
metallurgy. More surprisingly, little or no evolution has been
seen in their processing and properties, as can be learned from
reviews on the subject over the years [79], as well as from some
of the few technical papers available in open literature [1014].
Such limited research and technological evolution can be
understood from the basic observation that soft triboalloys do
not normally present significant wear. In a well designed engine,
operated under normal conditions, bearings are generally found
to show no more than a slight surface polish, even after
100,000 kms. Evidently, the alloys are not immune to wear, but
components are designed well within infinite-life limits. Additionally, hydrodynamic lubrication [1,15] prevents solidsolid
contact in the bearing-crankshaft tribopair. Marginal lubrication
[16,17] occurs only during engine start-up and severe regime
changes; dry friction is (almost) never present. This is important
in the design of wear experiments, as it has been shown
clearly that even in dry friction the atmosphere is of primordial

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R. Schouwenaars et al. / Wear 263 (2007) 727735

importance for the friction and wear of Al-based triboalloys

[18].
Increasing demands for engine efficiency have now reached
the point where the load bearing capacity of existing alloys is
considered a limit for design. The use of lighter cylinder blocks
and a higher peak pressure (needed to increase the specific output) increase the load on the bearing surface as well as the time
during which marginal lubrication occurs [19]. Smaller bearings
also help reducing mechanical losses, but new alloys cannot be
designed and existing ones cannot be optimised without precise
knowledge of damage mechanisms.
This work will focus on the wear mechanisms in existing
triboalloys when exposed to severe conditions. Little would be
observed under normal loading conditions (under which no more
than run-in is observed) and future alloys will be exposed to
more demanding regimes of operation. Some information was
obtained from failure cases, which were used as a reference for
the experiments. Focus will be on the microstrucutral changes
during wear, because relatively little was learned from the worn
surfaces, due to the presence of sufficient lubrication in most
cases.
2. Experiments
2.1. Failure cases
All failure cases reported to a bearing manufacturer over
a period of 10 years were investigated by the authors. These
include cases remitted by large engine builders as well as smaller
engine rebuilders. The overwhelming majority of cases were
due to gross errors during engine assembly, generally related
to insufficient cleaning after machining and shot-peening. One
case, due to corrosion, has been reported elsewhere [20]. Only a
few examples related to shaft misalignment or machining tolerances were found to cause the kind of damage related to severe
loading conditions and will be discussed into more detail.
2.2. Wear tests
At the moment of writing, there seems to be no generally
accepted test method to evaluate the wear and fatigue resistance of journal bearings. A widely used family of wear tests
applies a load by means of a hydraulic cylinder acting on a
stationary bearing with rotating shaft operating under fully lubricated conditions. Another family, known as the Underwood test,
applies a varying load by means of eccentric weights on a rotating shaft, which is supported by connecting rods [6,10,11]. The
Underwood test is often referred to as a fatigue test.
In both types of rigs, only approximate knowledge exists
about pressure and temperature in the lubricating film. This is
explained by the fact that that a shaft running on a set of hydrodynamically lubricated bearings (some or all of whom are the
test samples) is a hyperstatic system; moreover, the bearings
are complex non-linear components. A full description of the
dynamic behaviour of the test rig needs to take into account
elastic deformation and thermal expansion of the components
and the proper solution of the Reynolds equation under dynamic

Fig. 1. Image showing the basic scheme of the Underwood testing rig (omitting
transmission and lubrication systems).

conditions [1,2,15]. Reports on a fully dynamic calculation of

a crankshaft with lubricated bearings have reached the public
domain only recently [21].
Consequently, results of such a test have a qualitative character and permit ranking different materials whenever they are
tested on the same rig under comparable conditions. On different rigs with similar designs, the physical phenomena involved
in wear are expected to be similar, even if quantitative results
may differ. Taking these considerations into account, an Underwood testing rig was designed based on information available
in literature [6,10,11] (Fig. 1.).
2.3. Materials and materials characterisation
Five sets of new connecting rod bearings for four-cylinder
engines were purchased. All examples in the study refer to
two important commercial alloys. The first one (SAE 49P) is
Cu24%Pb1%Sn (weight percent), produced by sintering prealloyed powder onto steel strip in a continuous annealing line.
The bimetal strip, with a typical thickness of 200 m after shaping and machining, is electroplated with a 20 m SAE 191
Babbit coating (Pb10%Sn), resulting in a trimetal, functionally graded system. The Al-based samples use alloy SAE 783
(Al20%Sn1%Cu), which is produced by thin slab casting,
followed by cold rolling, annealing and cladding onto the steel
backing [14].
Two bearings of each producer were tested in the Underwood rig; another one was destined to metallography. Tests
were run for 30 h at 1700 rpm (2.5 106 cycles). Temperature was monitored at the bearing surface and was constant
at 140 10 C. Sections of worn parts were prepared by standard metallographic practice. The SAE 49P samples were etched
with a mix of 1/3 concentrated ammonia, 1/3H2 O2 and 1/3H2 O
for 10 s. Observations were done on a Philips XL20 Scanning
Electron Microscope.
The natural reference system for bearings is given in Fig. 2.
The sliding direction (SD) corresponds to the direction of movement between shaft and bearing. In this study, all metallographic
sections are cut perpendicular to the sliding direction. The
information contained in transverse sections is omitted by this

R. Schouwenaars et al. / Wear 263 (2007) 727735

729

Fig. 2. Sample reference system for strip and bearings, indicating the Normal
(ND), Transverse (TD) and Sliding Direction (SD) of the Bearing shell. TD is
the rolling direction (RD) of the strip during manufacturing.

approach. Other studies on the microstructural modification

of ductile metals during wear have focused instead on sections perpendicular to TD, omitting the information contained
in the NDSD-plane [2225]. Neither approach is complete;
more detailed metallographic characterisation will have to be
performed in future experiments.
3. Results
3.1. Some observations from failure analysis
Some of the essential features of journal bearing failure will
be outlined by means of a series of micrographs. Fig. 2 illustrates
what happens if insufficient cleaning is applied after machining
and shot-peening of the crankshaft. Chips and shot are retained in
the lubrication channels and failure occurs quickly during testing
of the engine. This is an evident example of severe errors during
assembly and is not related to the fundamentals of bearing wear,
but the example explains the concept of embeddability, which
is the capability to trap hard particles, preventing damage to the
more expensive parts of the engine. It is seen in Fig. 3 (trimetal
bearing) and in Fig. 4 (AlSn alloy) that such severe damage
hardly causes any material loss, because the alloys respond by
plastic deformation, as evidenced in Fig. 4 by the deformation
of the Sn-phase and by the embedded wear flakes at the base of
the scratch.

Fig. 3. Particle of shot ploughing through the surface of a CuPb-triboalloy.

Rather than suffering material loss due to chip removal, the alloy deforms
plastically.

Fig. 4. Section through a groove generated by a chip of nodular cast iron in an

AlSn alloy. The Sn-phase (white) serves as a marker for the strain field.

The next series of examples corresponds to a V6-engine with

misalignment of the crankshaft, resulting in severe wear of the
bearings in the first cylinder, gradually decreasing to almost no
wear at the sixth. This permits to investigate a single set of
products at varying degrees of wear. In Fig. 5, the coating is
not yet worn away, but is clearly affected by the wear process.
Wear debris of the CuPb-alloy (generated in other zones of
the system) is embedded in the babbit. The debris is not just
deposited on top of the coating; but is mixed with it through
wear-induced mechanical alloying.
A more advanced stage of this alloying process is seen in
Fig. 6. Here, all the flakes are broken into fine particles, mixed
intimately within a Babbit matrix. The particles have an ellipsoidal form, which can be understood from the thermodynamic
requirement for reducing the surface energy between the Cu and
Pb-phases. Diffusion can be supposed to be strongly enhanced
in these structures due to the high specific area of the original
flakes and the high defect content (dislocations and vacancies)
induced by severe plastic deformation.
Fig. 7 shows the surface in the most severely affected zone.
The coating has worn away and a damage pattern typical for
adhesive wear is found, indicating that the pressure was too
high for a significant oil film to be formed. Still, the interest-

Fig. 5. Tribolayer formed by mechanical mixing of CuPb flakes removed at

other zones of the system and embedded into the original babbit coating [26].

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Fig. 6. Tribolayer formed by mechanical mixing of Cu-based wear debris with

the Babbit coating. The cyclic mechanical action imposed by the rotating shaft
has refined and broken up the original Cu-flakes while diffusion has lead to their
spheroidisation [26].

Fig. 8. Section through the most severely worn part of Fig. 7. The sliding direction is perpendicular to the plane of the image (not to the right). Important
features are: (A) fresh Cu flakes embedded in the Pb-phase; (B) Pb-rich rim
within the Cu-phase as evidenced by atomic number contrast; (C) Cu-rich zones
within the Pb-phase well below the exposed surface of the bearing [26].

ing part of the information is contained in the metallographic

sections. Fig. 8 illustrates how a tribolayer develops. Small Cu
flakes are embedded in the Pb phase, and a rim of finely dispersed Pb is found around the lead particles, as indicated by
a clearer grey tone in the backscattered electron image. The
tribolayer is not limited to the immediate surface, as can be
seen from the presence of Cu heterogeneously dispersed in
the Pb-phase (darker grey zones within a white Pb-particle).
The mechanically mixed zone extends at least 12 m into the
alloy.
The observation of grey levels intermediate to the dark level
for Cu and the white level of Pb in the Backscattered electron
(BSE) images indicates the formation of mixtures whose structure cannot be resolved using BSE in the SEM. Some hints about
whether these are metastable solid solutions or very fine particle distributions can be obtained from Fig. 9. Submicron Pb
particles are arranged along a regular pattern in a Cu-grain, surrounded by clouds of more homogeneous Pb-rich material (but
not by pure Pb). The authors consider this as an indication that
an unstable phase was formed during mechanical mixing which
then decomposes spinodally during extended testing or storage

In the Underwood rig, testing conditions are probably gentler than in the last example, but the duration of the test is
significantly longer. Tribolayers are generally more extended
and better developed. The most striking feature in all samples is
the vortex character of plastic flow which is clearly illustrated
by the morphology of the second phase and etching patterns
in the copper grains (Fig. 10). The axis of vorticity is along
SD, contrary to other studies where a less developed vorticity
was observed with axis along TD [23,24]. By assuming that the
thickness reduction of the second phase particles after tribological modification is a measure for strain, true (logarithmic) strains
larger than 4 are estimated in the CuPb alloy; for the Sn-alloy,
strains are larger than 6. In the latter, the particles break up in
small fragments which become unrecognisable at the nucleus of
the vortex.

Fig. 7. Surface of a severely overloaded bearing, showing adhesive wear of the

SAE49P-surface which was exposed after removal of the coating.

Fig. 9. Unmixing driven by thermodynamic instability of a CuPb phase formed

by mechanical mixing [26].

of the prepared samples. Such room temperature ageing is not

uncommon for low-melting alloys [3,27].
3.2. Results of wear tests

R. Schouwenaars et al. / Wear 263 (2007) 727735

Fig. 10. Section through a CuPb alloy. A fully developed vortex with tribologically modified nucleus is shown (A). Etching patterns around the nucleus are
an indication of the plastic flow, a rotation of at least 180 can be derived from
the flow patterns (B). Grain refinement in Cu is seen at the surface (C).

Fig. 11. Details of a severely mixed vortex nucleus. Large zones of intermediate
grey levels indicate the mixture of Cu and Pb while ellipsoidal grains of Cu are
surrounded by a thin rim enriched in Pb. Some pores are present, possibly created
by the annihilation of excess vacancies.

In the AlSn alloy, Sn-grains break up into small particles

toward the centre of the vortex. Enhanced solubility is suggested
by the cloudy appearance of the nucleus, but this may as well
be an electron-optic effect. In the CuPb alloy, it is seen that
the extruded Pb-ribbons disappear into the nucleus of the vortex
before breaking up mechanically. The structure of the nucleus
cannot be determined in Fig. 10. Fig. 11 (BSE, unetched sample)
shows the detail of a heavily intermixed zone in the nucleus of a
vortex, where Pb-rich rims can be found around ellipsoidal Cu
grains, apparently created by the unmixing of Cu and Pb from
an unstable phase.
4. Discussion
4.1. Testing method
To guarantee that engine components are tested under fully
realistic conditions, the dynamometer is used: a real engine is
run under controlled conditions, preferably with a high degree
of instrumentation. It would not be too difficult to modify the

731

bearing-shaft assembly such as to introduce controlled levels of

overload onto the bearing surface. However, such procedures
are expensive and are generally substituted by simplified test
rigs which are still relatively large and difficult to instrument.
This was not deemed critical when the methods were designed
50 years ago. The Underwood rig was originally conceived as
a fatigue test. In modern bearing shells, the triboalloy forms
only a thin overlay. The critical crack length to induce fatigue
in these highly ductile materials is likely to be larger than the
alloy thickness, while the steel backing shields the triboalloy
from elevated stresses and the bearing operates under elevated
compressive stresses. Hacifazlioglu and Karadeniz [28] investigated the presence of tensile stresses and found that small tensile
stresses are present at the leading edge of the hydrodynamic pressure distribution. They did not take into account the compressive
pre-stresses applied during assembly.
The present authors attempted to detect the presence of excessive tensile or shear stresses due to the complex features of the
two-phase microstructure by means of finite element models
[29]. It was found that tensile stresses never occur and that
shear stresses reach critical values only at nominal pressures
which were twice the ones expected in normal engine applications. Apparently, fatigue is not a real concern in modern
bearing shells. Even if the Underwood test is not a fatigue test,
it does produce interesting results. Although it is not possible to assign precise values of pressure or frictional forces, the
microstructures can be studied in the framework of the physical and mechanical metallurgy of tribolayer formation. From
the viewpoint of modern tribometry, the Underwood test does
no longer fit the standards. Precise tribometers which respect
the geometry and lubrication conditions of the axis-bearing pair
have to be developed.
4.2. On the mechanical aspects of tribolayer formation
The study of tribolayer formation is fundamental for the
understanding of wear in ductile materials [2225,3033]. From
the viewpoint of substructural refinement [22,33], this process
clearly falls under the classification of severe plastic deformation (SPD) [34,35]. It is characterised by the rapid accumulation
of dislocations during the early stages of straining, which
lower their energy by accommodating into low-angle subgrain
boundaries. Upon further deformation, the subgrain diameter
decreases, while subrgrain misorientation increases and subgrain boundary thickness is reduced. At a certain level of strain,
the accumulated misorientation is such that high-angle grain
boundaries appear, marking the continuous transition between a
heavily deformed material and a nanostructured (SPD) material.
For FCC metals, this transition occurs around equivalent (logarithmic) strains of 46, which are doubtlessly reached in the
tribolayers. A recent orientation mapping study by Battaile et
al. illustrated this phenomenon in Ni-single crystals, documenting how a refined polycrystal structure developed during sliding
wear [25]. It is logical to assume that the same process is active
in CuPb (Fig. 10) and AlSn alloys.
There is a clear distinction between SPD processing and tribolayer formation. In the first, a small number of passes with high

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R. Schouwenaars et al. / Wear 263 (2007) 727735

strain is applied. During wear, only small zones of the material

surpass their yield strength momentarily, causing small local
deformations which may stop and jump to other regions if strain
hardening is sufficient. Even so, only 10,000 cycles of 0.1%
strain would be necessary to reach a SPD of 10. SPD processes
have been designed specifically to maintain a high hydrostatic
pressure to prevent void formation and fracture, while wear
processes have not. Nonetheless, high hydrostatic pressures are
characteristic for the contact zone and thus may permit the accumulation of large strains before fracture occurs and wear debris
is generated.
What appears to distinguish the present materials from other
ductile materials is the formation of pronounced sideward vortices. The word Sideward is introduced to distinguish from
the well-documented Forward vortices which have their axis
along TD and are found in dry sliding wear of less-ductile, single
phase alloys [23,24]. Forward vortices are explained by the shear
strain induced by friction at the sliding interface, producing a
displacement gradient analogous to the one found in Poisseuille
flow. Whether such phenomenon occurs in the present case is
uncertain due to the choice of reference system. An argument
against it is the fact that tests were performed under lubricated
conditions, which reduce the tangential loads compared to dry
sliding.
In an attempt to formulate a phenomenological explanation
for the observed flow fields, the analogy with two classical slip
line field (SLF) solutions for ideal plane strain plasticity was
investigated. The SLF is the graphical presentation of the characteristics of the parabolic equation that describes plastic flow
for an incompressible, rigid-plastic medium subject to plane
strain [36]. The lines correspond to the direction of maximum
shear strain. The SLF can be dually described by the Hencky
equations:

dp + 2k d = 0 (-line)
(1)
dp 2k d = 0 (-line)
or the Geiringer equations

du v d = 0 (-line)
dv + u d = 0 (-line)

Fig. 12. Prandtl SLF for indentation by a flat punch. The central triangular zone
is pushed down, the outer triangles move up and out at an angle of 45 as rigid
bodies.

in Fig. 3. However, this geometry is affected by the restraint

imposed by the rotating shaft. The Prandtl field predicts rigid
body translation in the triangular regions and rigid body rotation in the fans. Fig. 4 clearly shows a strain gradient in the
neighbourhood of the indentation. Indentation problems have
therefore been studied rather through the analogy with the expansion of a spherical cavity [41]. A plane strain equivalent is the
compression of a cylindrical cavity (Fig. 13). Instead of a cavity, one can imagine the presence of a soft zone (e.g. Pb or Sn
occupying the triple line between adjoining matrix grains). In
Fig. 13, Strain increases inversely proportional with r2 .
Many theoretical objections can surely be formulated against
this proposal. There is no cavity in the physical problem and a
rigid-plastic boundary which complies with all the mathematical conditions of SLF-theory cannot be found. However, the
real material is not ideally rigid-plastic and the problem is not
pure plane strain. Rotational fields such as shown in Fig. 10 and
the left-hand side of Fig. 14 can be understood either from the
viewpoint of Fig. 12 or Fig. 13. Fig. 12 would present the case
of a localised pressure peak caused by the presence of an asper-

(2)

where the former express stress equilibrium and the latter strain
compatibility. p is the hydrostatic pressure, k the yield strength in
pure shear and the angle = + is the rotation angle between
the characteristic curvilinear co-ordinate system and the coordinate system at each point (x, y) of the physical plane,
(respectively, ) is the variation of along an -line (respectively, -line). u and v are the velocity components along the
and lines, respectively. Two classical solutions are of interest
for the present study (for a comprehensive textbook treatment,
see Chakrabarty [37]). The first one is the classical Prandtlsolution for indentation by a flat punch (Fig. 12), the second
one corresponds to the compression (expansion) of a cylindrical
tube (Fig. 13).
It is relatively easy to connect the outward movement of the
outer triangles in the Prandtl field to the flat ridges observed

Fig. 13. SLF for the compression of a cylindrical cavity under an external pressure p. The slip lines are logarithmic spirals, and can be interchanged
freely.

R. Schouwenaars et al. / Wear 263 (2007) 727735

733

of a second phase in a supersaturated solid solution. The goal

of such model is not to reach quantitative agreement, but rather
to explore the nature of the phenomena involved. Consequently,
strain energy will be neglected and only approximate thermodynamic parameters will be used. A more complete analysis, based
thermodynamic databases, can be made but is outside the scope
of this paper.
If a particle of Pb or Sn were to precipitate from a supersaturated solid solution in Cu or Al, the driving force for precipitation
(Gp ) would be given by [38]:


C0
Gp = RT ln
(3)
CM
Fig. 14. Tribological modification of a SAE783 alloy. To the left, a diverging
pattern of extruded Sn-particles indicates an outward material flow (A). To the
right, a similar flow is seen, but instead of diverging, it converges to form a
well-developed vortex (B). A smaller vortex is found at the centre (C) and more
complex patterns are seen in the upper right part of the micrograph (D).

ity on the rotating shaft, while Fig. 13 would correspond to the

effect of a more extended zone of high pressure which samples a
soft spot beneath the surface. Small displacements at the surface
would result in large displacements at the centre and the vortex
nucleus seen in Fig. 15 would have to be interpreted as a sink.
In the real problem, material is lost at the surface, not in the centre of the vortices. Three-dimensional flow patterns are needed
to explain the observed phenomena in a rigorous manner.
4.3. On the thermodynamics of tribolayer formation
The reasons why non-equilibrium phases are formed during
mechanical mixing of alloys are still far from clear. Suryanarayana, in an extensive review [39] as well as Ma [40,41] avoid
presenting quantitative assessments of this problem. The latter
also indicates the difficulty of demonstrating that a real homogeneous phase is formed, even with highly advanced analytic
instruments and specimens prepared under controlled laboratory conditions. A definite answer must not be expected from a
SEM-analysis on worn journal bearings. A simple approach for
studying phase instability is found by considering the nucleation

C0 represents the molar concentration of the supersaturated solution and CM the equilibrium concentration in the matrix. A small
spherical particle embedded in the matrix would have a free
energy of:
G =

4r3 Gp
+ 4r 2
3 Vm

(4)

The second term accounts for the surface energy of the particle
and Vm is its molar volume. The critical radius rc is given by:
G
=0
r

or rc = Vm

2
Gp

(5)

Smaller particles will shrink and disappear; larger particles

can lower their free energy by growing.
Now if a spherical particle with radius r0 is deformed according to a (logarithmic) strain tensor:

11 0
0

0
(6)
0 22

(11 + 22 )

Then, the particle transforms into an ellipsoid whose principal

axes are equal to:
a = r0 e11 ;

b = r0 e22 ;

c = r0 e11 22

(7)

The free energy of the particle is now:

G = VE

Gp
+ SE
Vm

(8)

In (8), VE is the volume and SE the surface area of the ellipsoid,

given by:
VE =

4
abc
3


SE =
0

Fig. 15. Centre of the vortex.


2 2b a2 + c2 + (a2 c2 )cos 2E


2(b2 a2 )c2 sin2
sin d
b2 (a2 + c2 + (a2 c2 )cos 2)

(9)

(10)

E() is the Elliptic Integral of the Second Kind; (10) was evaluated numerically. The stability criterion is no longer as simple
as (5), because particles can lower their free energy by changing
either size (r0 ) or shape.

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R. Schouwenaars et al. / Wear 263 (2007) 727735

Table 1
Estimation of thermodynamic data for the assessment of particle evolution in deformed CuPb and AlSn alloys

CuPb
AlSn

MP ( )

MM (J/m2 )

(J/m2 )

Vm (106 m3 )

C0 (at%)

CM (at%)

Gp (kJ/Mol)

rc (nm)

46
33

0.38
0.6

0.27
0.36

18.2
16.3

8.8
5.4

0.02
0.02

20.9
19.2

0.46
0.61

Surface energies for CuPb or AlSn are not readily found in

literature. As an indication, cusp angles 2 of 92 for CuPb and
66 for AlSn were measured at the intersection of phase boundaries with grain boundaries in the matrix. These intersections are
formed under conditions of liquidsolid equilibrium but may be
considered approximations for the incoherent solidsolid interface. The matrixparticle surface tension MP is calculated by:
MM = 2MP cos

(11)

MM was taken from Ref. [42]. The equilibrium solubility

of the alloying elements into the matrix is another difficult
question. Although both systems are generally considered to
show zero solid solubility, thermodynamically spoken, this
is not true. Scant literature data on the present systems give
0.01 at% of Sn in Al at room temperature [43] and 0.05 at% of
Pb in Cu at 873 K [44]. Because such small levels of solubility
are difficult to determine even through detailed thermodynamic
analysis, a value of Cm = 0.02% will be assumed for both alloys
at a testing temperature of 413 K.
The relevant parameters are resumed in Table 1.
The result of the analysis is given by Fig. 16, which plots the
gradient of G (8). This gradient indicates how the particles
would evolve if left to thermodynamic effects only. Also plotted
is the line at which G/r = 0. To the left of this line, a particle would diminish its volume by dissolution, to the right, the
particle would grow.

Fig. 16 indicates that ductile particles which are several orders

of magnitude larger than the critical size for a nucleus would
become unstable if sufficiently strained. The sense of the arrows
indicates that at very high strains, particles would stabilise by
reducing their ellipticity first and then would grow or shrink
depending on their original size. At lower strains, the effect is
weak and simple growth or shrinking would predominate. It must
be mentioned that for the present examples, the driving force
against dissolution is enormous (several times higher than the
heat of melting of the pure metals). In the presence of metastable
intermediate phases, or if the free energy of the amorphous phase
is lower than that of the solid solution, then the size of the critical
nucleus would increase and the black line in Fig. 16 would move
downward.
There are also mechanical factors to be taken into account.
Excess vacancies and dislocations will have a strong effect
on the kinetics by increasing the diffusion coefficient. Their
energetic impact is likely to be small compared to the driving forces for phase transformation. A more direct effect of
strain is the mechanical break-up of elongated ribbons/flakes
of second phase. This may occur when shear bands cross the
microstructure but also by tensile fracture of the ribbons. Such
break-up can occur at much lower strains than the ones needed
for thermodynamic instability and would move the particles to
the lower-left corner of Fig. 16. This is likely to be responsible
for the stringers of fine Sn-grains found in Fig. 15. Additional straining would be necessary to further reduce the smaller
particles and push them over their thermodynamic stability
limits.
5. Summary and conclusions

Fig. 16. Gradient of G, indicating the sense of evolution of an ellipsoid

particle in the absence of additional strain increments induced by wear. The
black line indicates the condition G/r = 0.

The simplicity of tools which have hitherto been reported

for the study of wear in journal bearings stands in stark contrast with the complexity of the problem as illustrated by this
paper. Measurement rigs which are capable of determining friction and wear in a controlled manner will have to be designed,
without deviating too much from the operation conditions for
journal bearings. Next, instead of simply observing the worn
surfaces, microstructures must be studied. Tribolayer formation
is a three-dimensional problem, so perpendicular sections must
be combined or serial sectioning must be used to construct a
complete picture.
In spite of the relative simplicity of the observations presented
here, the complex interplay of mechanic and thermodynamic
processes involved in tribolayer formation is clearly demonstrated. No intermixing between shaft material and triboalloy
was found. The shaft induces accumulated cyclic plastic deformation into the two-phase materials. The vortex patterns shown
are the most striking features of the strain field.

R. Schouwenaars et al. / Wear 263 (2007) 727735

An attempt was made to explain these vortices through Slip

Line Theory, which doubtlessly is an oversimplification. Similarly, to gain some understanding on the thermodynamic effects
generated by such high strains, a simple analogy to the nucleation and growth model for phase transformation was used. This
model indicates that thermodynamic instability plays a role to
form the non-equilibrium structures observed, but it must be
assisted by the mechanical break-up of the particles to reach a
sufficiently small size for dissolution.
Both models presented here can obviously be refined, modified or rejected, in which case alternative hypothesis must be
explored. Rather than explaining the problem into detail, the
models indicate the fields of study which must be accessed
in this largely unexplored area. While such fields are fairly
well-defined for most other technologically important alloys,
a discussion to this respect seems to be non-existent in the case
of soft triboalloys.
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