Research on Corrosion and Friction Behaviors of 8Cr4Mo4V Bearing Steels in Corrosive Medium Environments

Corrosion-wear damage behavior affects the bearing life and reliability seriously in a corrosive environment. The accurate evaluation of the tribocorrosion behavior of 8Cr4Mo4V bearing steel samples is critical for the application and protection of bearings. The present work seeks to establish the relationship between laboratory salt spray accelerated experiments and the corrosion of 8Cr4Mo4V steel samples in real outdoor marine atmosphere exposure, and investigate the tribological behavior in the corrosion-wear process under artificial seawater. Results show that salt spray corrosion tests can well simulate the corrosion of 8Cr4Mo4V steels in marine atmospheric exposure. The tribocorrosion performance of 8Cr4Mo4V steels under artificial seawater conditions is affected by the temperature effect of the corrosive liquid and the working conditions. Increased normal load and reduced rotational speed can improve the anti-friction performance. This work offers the possibility and reference of precise control of corrosion-wear-coupled damage failures for bearings.