Toughening and dry sliding wear resistance of Co₃Mo₂Si alloys

The MgZn₂ type Laves phase of Co₃Mo₂Si has very attractive super high hardness and covalent dominated bonding nature for wear resistance applications. To make it feasible for real application, its inherent brittleness was effectively balanced by toughening it with the ductile cobalt solid solution (Co_ss) by the laser melting process. The toughening effect was evaluated qualitatively by the observation of the indentation behaviors and the micro-hardness variations of the alloys. The wear properties of the Co_ss toughened Co₃Mo₂Si alloys were evaluated in the dry sliding wear test condition at room temperature. Results indicated that the Co_ss toughened Co₃Mo₂Si alloys have excellent combination of strength and ductility, and display exceptional wear property.