Obtaining friction pairs of mechanical seals made of composite material of the TiC-SiC system

The development of new materials and coatings with increased wear resistance, used in friction pairs, is an urgent task. Its solution is aimed at ensuring reliability and dependability of work during operation. One of the new and promising functional materials for the manufacture of dense and durable parts and products subjected to intensive wear during operation is the powder material of the TiC-SiC system, ob-tained by an energy-saving and more productive than hot pressing method - spark plasma sintering (SPS). The aim of the work was to obtain and study experimental samples of friction pairs made of a composite material of the TiC-SiC system by the method of mechanical activation and SPS. The goal is aimed at solving problems of increasing the service life of the mechanical seal of the centrifugal pump 16-08-140SP diesel engine cooling system D-160 (180) for the tractor T10. The processes of consolidation of powder mixtures, including containing aluminum oxide. It has been established that the introduction of aluminum oxide prevents compaction during sintering and increases the porosity of the material. The optimum sintering temperature corresponds to 1350 °C. The resulting material has high hardness and wear resistance. Parts of a friction pair for a pump mechanical seal were manufactured and tested. Bench tests of parts showed that the wear rate with dry friction is 4,49 ∙ 10-9 mm of wear / mm of the friction path. When working in the coolant, there is an additional burnin, which reduces wear, friction coefficient and increases the tightness of the mechanical seal. The developed material has an earnability, so the surface is smoothed during operation, which is not typical of other ceramics of this purpose.

mechanical activation, spark plasma sintering, titanium carbide, silicon carbide, friction pair, wear resistance, density, porosity, microhardness