Wear and Sliding Friction Properties of Nickel Alloys Suited for Gages of High-temperature Rolling-contact Bearings Alloys retaining mechanical properties above 600 degrees F

Wear and sliding friction properties of a number of nickel alloys operating against hardened SAE 52100 steel were studied. The alloys were cast beryllium nickel, heat-treated beryllium nickel, cast Inconel, Nimonic 80, Inconel X, Refractalloy 26, and Discaloy. Some of the allows studied may be useful as material for cages of rolling-contact bearings that operate at high speeds with temperatures above 600 degrees F in projected aircraft turbine engines or for bearings that operate in corrosive mediums. Desirable operating properties and the absence of extreme mass welding of all the materials could be associated with the development of the sliding surfaces of a naturally formed film of nickel oxide. On the basis of wear and friction properties, cast Inconel performed very well in these experiments and compares favorably with nodular iron. Nimonic 80 also showed promise as a possible cage material.