Crystallographic textures and texture transitions induced by sliding wear in bronze and nickel

Sliding wear is accompanied by the formation of severely plastically deformation (SPD) layers just below the surfaces of two bodies in contact. SPD layers are typically comprised of nanograins and often display crystallographic texture. Using orientation imaging microscopy, we determine the main texture components present in steady-state wear in bronze (Cu-Ni-Sn) and Ni pins worn under dry sliding conditions against a bronze disk. The dominant texture components are shear texture components, namely {1 1 2}〈1 1 0〉, {1 1 1}〈1 1 2〉, and {1 0 0}〈1 1 0〉. While the geometry of the pin-on-disk test imposes symmetry constraints on the possible texture components, we show that the selection of the dominant texture components is affected by pin material's properties and by sliding conditions. In the case of the bronze pin, for instance, increasing the temperature of the wear test from room temperature to 330 °C leads to an inversion of the relative intensity of texture components, while decreasing the load leads to the stabilization of new texture components. We discuss the potential impact of crystallographic textures, and textures transition as wear test parameters are varied, on the friction and wear response of metallic alloys subjected to dry sliding wear.