DOE/NASA/50306–11

NASA TM–107082

Friction and Wear Characteristics of

Candidate Foil Bearing Materials

From 25 °C to 800 °C

J.A. Laskowski

Parks College

Cahokia, Illinois

and

C. DellaCorte

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Lewis Research Center

Cleveland, Ohio

Work performed for

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Conservation and Renewable Energy

Office of Vehicle and Engine R&D

Prepared for

the Annual Meeting

sponsored by the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers

Cincinnati, Ohio, May 19–23, 1996
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DOE/NASA/50306–11

NASA TM–107082

Friction and Wear Characteristics of Candidate

Foil Bearing Materials From 25 °C to 800 °C

J.A. Laskowski

Parks College

Cahokia, Illinois

and

C. DellaCorte

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Lewis Research Center

Cleveland, Ohio

Work performed for

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Conservation and Renewable Energy

Office of Vehicle and Engine R&D

Washington, D.C. 20545

Under Interagency Agreement DE–AI01–91CE–50306

Prepared for the

Annual Meeting

sponsored by the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers

Cincinnati, Ohio, May 19–23, 1996
FRICTION AND WEAR CHARACTERISTICS OF CANDIDATE FOIL

BEARING MATERIALS FROM 25 °C TO 800 °C

by

J.A. Laskowski, Parks College

and

C. DellaCorte

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Lewis Research Center

Abstract

The friction and wear behavior of unlubricated metal/metal sliding couples was investigated to screen

potential candidates for high temperature foil bearings. The tribo-tests were run in an induction-heated high

temperature pin-on-disk tribometer in an air atmosphere at a load of 4.9 N and at a sliding velocity of 1 m/s.

The friction and wear properties of several nickel based alloys (Rene ́ 41, Inconel X-750, Inconel 713C), iron

based alloys (MA956 and Inconel 909) and a ceramic (Al2O3) were tested at 25, 500, and 800 °C. In general,

at elevated temperatures the alloys oxidized and formed a tenacious and lubricous oxide surface film or layer.

At 800 °C, Inconel X–750 versus Rene ́ 41 had the lowest friction coefficient (0.27) and at 500 °C, Inconel

X–750 versus Inconel 909 the lowest pin wear (2.84x10-6 mm3/N-m). Gouging and severe wear of the softer

material occurred whenever a significant difference in hardness existed between the pin and disk specimens. 

INTRODUCTION

Foil bearings are self acting, hydrodynamic bearings which use ambient air as the working fluid (1).

The bearing consists of a thin, flexible, top foil supported by a corrugated bump foil which is, in turn,

supported by a rigid bearing housing (2). The bumps act as springs which deflect under load, offering

compliance for the top foil and resulting in a larger film thickness than in an equivalent rigid bearing (2,3).

Figure 1 is a sketch of a foil air bearing showing typical components.

Foil bearings have been successfully applied to a wide range of high-speed aerospace rotating

machinery such as auxiliary power units for military and aircraft applications and automotive gas turbine

engines (4). Other applications include turbocompressors and turboalternators for aircraft and space power

systems (2,5). A very successful application of a foil bearing has been in aircraft air cycle machines (ACM)

for cabin pressurization and cooling. They have demonstrated long service lives with no scheduled 

1
maintenance. Foil bearings used in the Boeing 747 ACM have accumulated more than a million flight hours

and demonstrated a mean time between failure of over 100,000 hours (6).

Compared to conventional rigid gas bearings or rolling element bearings, foil air bearings are an

attractive alternative because they allow centrifugal and thermal growth of the rotor, as well as readily

accommodating impact loading and elastic and thermal distortions. These bearings also provide damping to

increase stability (3,7). Misalignments are readily accommodated and endurance at extreme temperatures

where oil and grease lubrication cannot be used is possible (2,3).

However, the lack of effective high temperature solid lubricant coatings and/or alternate materials

currently limits the use of foil bearings to operating temperatures below 300 °C. Although there is no sliding

contact in the steady state operation of the foil bearing, contact between the foil and journal surfaces will

occur at startup and shutdown and occasionally during overload situations. The number of startup/shutdown

cycles required in a lifetime varies, but typical values lie in the range of 5,000 to 50,000 cycles (7). At these

times a lubricous interface is necessary (8).

In order to develop effective high temperature foil bearings, new material combinations that exhibit

good high temperature tribological characteristics must be found. Both the foil and journal materials should be

readily available from commercial vendors and resistant to high temperature corrosion. In addition, potential

foil materials must be capable of developing the required strength and spring properties (7).

Described in this report are efforts now underway to identify improved tribological candidate materials

for use up to 650 °C. The goal is to allow the foil air bearing to be functional from low-temperature start-up

conditions to the maximum temperatures encountered during engine operation without the use of additional

solid lubricants. Pin-on-disk testing was used to screen the alternate candidate materials. 

EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS

Pins which simulate the foil bearing surface were made from Inconel X-750 (INCX-750), the most

commonly used foil material, and were slid against various nickel and iron based high temperature alloys in an

atmosphere of air with 50% relative humidity at 25 °C. Sliding velocity was 1 m/s (370 rpm). For comparison

purposes, pins were also made from the oxide dispersion strengthened iron alloy (MA956) and a ceramic

(Al2O3). These two comparative pin materials are considerably softer and harder than INCX-750, respectively.

Disk materials included several metal alloys described below and which, based upon their mechanical and

2
physical properties, are suitable as bearing journal materials. A 0.5kg load was used at temperatures of 25,

500, and 800 °C with testing times between 30 and 60 minutes. Wear measurements and calculations were

performed to determine pin and disk wear coefficients.

MATERIALS

Table 1 summarizes the six different materials used in these experiments. Inconel X-750 (INCX-750),

the current foil bearing material, is a nickel-chromium based alloy. INCX-750, Inconel 909 (INC 909), 

Rene ́ 41 (R41) and Inconel 713C (IN713C) are all precipitation hardened and exhibit high temperature

corrosion and oxidation resistance (9,10,11,12).

INC 909 is an iron-nickel-cobalt based superalloy which contains about 0.4% silicon. This addition

gives substantial improvements in both tensile and rupture properties and permits the use of shorter, more

economical heat-treatment cycles. Of the materials selected, INC 909 has the highest hardness at room

temperature (71-75 RC) as well as the highest density, 8.3 g/cc (10).

R41 is a nickel-chromium based superalloy which exhibits the highest tensile strength (1420 MPa) at

room temperature among the materials tested in this study. R41 has excellent high-temperature oxidation

resistance and strength and can be forged into a variety of complex shapes or easily welded. It is a commonly

used aerospace material with a hardness (Rc) of 35 to 40 at 25 °C (11). IN713C is a readily-castable nickel

based alloy and is chosen because casting bearing journals represents a possible method for cost reduction

(12).

MA956 is a mechanically alloyed iron-chromium-aluminum based alloy which is oxide dispersion

strengthened (ODS) by the use of a small yttria (Y2O3) addition. MA956 has high temperature strength and

corrosion resistance and provides a long service life under extreme conditions. An aluminum content of 4.5%

allows the material to form a nongalling and adherent Al2O3 scale at elevated temperatures. The hardness of

MA956 is in the range of 20 to 23 Rc (13).

Candidate bearing journal materials were fabricated into test disks 64 mm in diameter and 12.5 mm

thick. Pins were cut from 9.5 mm diameter rods and fabricated with a hemispherical tip at each end, using

conventional machining techniques, to a curvature of 25.4 mm. The surface finish was approximately 

0.01 μm rms.

3
Al2O3 has been used in previous testing and proven to have a desirable combination of properties such

as high temperature stability, low thermal conductivity and good wear resistance (14). Properties for the Al2O3

specimens are given in Table 2 (15). Alumina test pins were made by diamond grinding a 25.4 mm 

long, 9.52 mm diameter rods. The roughness of the wear surface was typically 0.1 to 0.15 μm rms. Clean water

was used as the grinding coolant/lubricant to prevent surface contamination which can occur when using

typical grinding lubricants. The hardness of Al2O3 is beyond the Rockwell C scale and is typically 2200 to

2500 kg/mm2 on the Vickers scale.

APPARATUS AND TEST PROCEDURES

Specimen Preoxidation Treatment

Heat treating of the MA956 in air was performed to grow an oxide layer on the surface of the disks.

The tenacious oxide formed on this alloy at high temperatures may reduce friction and wear. A limited study

was performed to determine oxide growth rates and establish a heat treatment to grow a 2.5 μm oxide 

layer on the MA956 material. Specimens were placed into a furnace at 1100 °C for various lengths of time (up

to 264 hours) to produce a wear resistant protective layer of aluminum oxide(Al2O3). The specimens (4 mm x

12 mm x 12 mm) were then placed in a mounting press and diamond polished until a submicron finish was

obtained on the cross section. The samples were examined in a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and the

oxide scale thickness was measured. 

After approximately 264 hours, a 4.9 μm oxide scale formed along the surface of the sample. X-ray

Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) of the scale inidcated the presence of only Al and oxygen suggesting

an alumina layer was formed. A heat treatment of 20 hr at 1100 °C was chosen to form a 2.5 μm thick oxide

scale a sample of which is shown in Figure 2.

Test Procedure

Friction and wear tests were performed in an air atmosphere using the pin-on-disk apparatus shown in

Figure 3. Prior to each test, both the pin and disk were cleaned with ethyl alcohol and scrubbed with a paste of

levigated alumina and water. The specimens were then rinsed with deionized water and air dried. 

To run a test, a hemispherically tipped pin was loaded against a disk using dead weights. The normal

load used was 4.9 N and friction force was measured continuously by means of a strain gauge bridge. The pin

4
generated approximately a 51 mm diameter wear track on each disk. Sliding was unidirectional and the

velocity in these experiments was 1 m/s to screen start/stop lubricants for foil bearings. This velocity was

chosen as an approximate average between initial start/stop conditions (0 m/s) and initial lift off (2 m/s).The

specimens were heated by a low frequency induction coil and an infrared pyrometer or thermocouple was used

to measure the disk surface temperatures on the wear track. Each test was run between 30 and 60 minutes at

temperatures of 25, 500, and 800 °C. Typically, three repeat tests were conducted to assess data scatter.

Wear volumes were calculated from the diameters of the circular wear scars on the hemispherically

tipped pins and from surface profiles of the disk wear tracks. The unit of wear used is the wear factor k, which

is defined as the wear volume divided by the product of the load and sliding distance. The wear factor k has

units of mm3/N-m. Values of k above 10-4 mm3/N-m are considered high wear and values below 

10-7 mm3/N-m are considered low wear for many sliding applications (16).

RESULTS

The primary goal of this research is to identify material combinations offering improved tribological

properties over the baseline INCX-750 foils sliding against INCX-750 journals. The results of the friction and

wear testing are summarized in Table 3 and shown graphically in Figures 4 to 6. A typical friction coefficient

versus time graph is plotted for the Al2O3 versus INCX-750 test at 500 °C in Figure 7. The range of friction

coefficients of all tests performed was 0.27 to 1.02 and pin and disk wear factors were between 10-2 and 

10-6 mm3/N-m. Results for specific combinations are given below.

INCX-750/INCX-750

In self-mated sliding, INC X-750 exhibited high friction and wear at 25 and 500 °C. Wear factors were

greater than 10-4 mm3/N-m and friction was between 0.4 and 0.54. At 800 °C, excessive material transfer and

subsequent vibration occurred which precluded the completion of testing and any meaningful wear measurements. Measured friction was actually reduced, in this case, but the reduction actually reflects “bouncing” and

“skipping” of the pin over the disk surface. Clearly a material change or lubricant is required when using both

INCX-750 foil bearings and journals under these sliding conditions (i.e., high temperatures).

5
INCX-750/MA956

When INCX-750 pins were slid against MA956 disks, wear performance similar to self-mated 

INCX-750 was observed at room temperature. Friction for both MA956 and pre-oxidized (MA956-OX) was

about 0.6 and wear factors are around 10-4 mm3/N-m. At 500 °C friction increased substantially to 0.9 to 1.0

and disk wear increased by one order of magnitude to 10-3 mm3/N-m. For INCX-750 versus MA956, at 800 °C

the tests had to be interrupted due to severe galling and stick/slip behavior.

INCX-750/INC909

INCX-750 versus INC 909 testing showed a high friction coefficient at 25 °C of 0.61. Excessive

transfer (galling) occurred at 500 °C and 800 °C causing rough and erratic sliding and the average measured

friction coefficient varied from 0.36 to 0.40. As in the case of self-mated INCX-750 at 800 °C, dynamic effects

due to the roughened surfaces hindered accurate friction measurements at these rotational speeds (370 rpm).

Although the pin wear decreased from 10-3 at 25 °C to 10-6 mm3/N-m at 500 °C, no pin or disk wear

measurements could be obtained at 800 °C due to severe wear and galling.

INCX-750/IN713C

Initial testing of IN713C was done with ground (Ra = 0.2 μm rms) surface finished disks rather than

lapped samples due to availability of the specimens. At all test temperatures, disk wear or transfer from the

pin, was indistinguishable from the unworn, ground disk surface due to the roughness peaks being larger than

any wear track or material transfer. Three additional tests (one at each temperature) using lapped disk surfaces

(Ra=0.1 μin rms) were run to quantify disk wear. At 25 °C the disk wear was 1.62x10-3 mm3/N-m and the

friction coefficient was 0.68. At 500 °C pin wear was 1.07x10-4 mm3/N-m, the friction (0.64) was nearly the

same as at 25 °C. Disk wear could not be quantified as a result of material transfer (determined from surface

profilometry) from the pin to the disk. At 800 °C, friction decreased to 0.34. As was the case at 500 °C, disk

wear not detectable due to material transfer from the pin. The pin wear increased to 6.6x10-4 mm3/N-m. 

INCX-750/Rene ́ 41

When R41 was the counterface disk, room temperature friction and wear became comparable to

INCX-750 disks. Friction was 0.5, pin wear was 2.0x10-4 mm3/N-m, and disk wear was 

1.3x10-4 mm3/N-m. At 500 °C, friction decreased to 0.31 and pin wear was reduced by an order of magni6
tude to 7.3x10-6 mm3/N-m, the lowest INCX-750 pin wear observed. Disk wear however increased slightly to

2.0x10-4 mm3/N-m. At 800 °C, no measurable wear occurred for both the pins and the disks during these tests

and friction was further reduced to 0.27. 

Alternate Pin Material Tests

Although the lack of spring properties at elevated temperatures precludes their use as foil materials,

MA956 and Al2O3 were tested as pins for comparative purposes and for screening their potential as coatings.

MA956 PINS

In self-mated sliding, MA956 exhibited high friction and wear under almost all conditions tested.

Using an oxidized MA956 disk resulted in a friction coefficient of 0.4 at 800 °C, about one-half that of other

tests. The corresponding amount of wear, however, was high for both pin and disk.

Al2O3/MA956

The average friction coefficient of alumina pins sliding against MA956 at 25 °C was 0.68. Friction

decreased at 500 °C to 0.47 and to 0.30 at 800 °C. Average disk wear at 25 °C was 1.12x10-3 mm3/N-m and of

the same magnitude at 500 oC. Pin wear at each temperature was of the order of 10-5 mm3/N-m. Surface

profilometry of the disks at 800 °C indicated that material build-up occurred.

Al2O3/INCX-750

The tribocombination of Al2O3 sliding against INCX-750 produced friction and wear properties

similar to that of Al2O3 versus MA956. Figure 8 shows the plot of friction at each temperature. At 25 °C 

the average friction was 0.67 and decreased to 0.29 at 800 °C. Disk wear at 25 and 500 °C was 5.4 and 1.6

10-4 mm3/N-m repeatively. Pin wear was 4.15x10-5 mm3/N-m at 25 °C and decreased to 7.0x10-6 mm3/N-m at

500 °C. At 800 °C, pin wear was 1.1x10-5 mm3/N-m and disk wear was -8.6x10-8 mm3/N-m. The negative disk

wear factor at 800 °C indicated that a slight buildup of material occurred between the two materials.

DISCUSSION

In existing foil bearing applications, INCX-750 foils are typically operated against journals made from

INCX-750 or lower cost stainless steels, like A286 (4). Solid lubricants are required to prevent wear, ensure

long life, low starting torque and smooth bearing surfaces. Commonly used solid lubricants are polymer (PTEE,

7
polyimides), graphite or molybdenum disulfide coatings. These coatings are capable of operating at

temperatures to about 300 °C. The development of suitable solid lubricants which can endure higher

temperatures has been slow and therefore alternate approaches have been considered.

The approach used in this current research is to identify new material combinations which show

improved tribological properties over the baseline self-mated INCX-750 without the need for additional solid

lubrication. None of the combinations tested however, offer significantly improved friction and wear properties

over the entire temperature range. Under specific conditions some materials performed better than self-mated

INCX-750. To better understand the observed results, the friction and wear properties will be discussed in more

detail.

Considerable research has already been done to study and understand the phenomena of self-mated

metal sliding combinations in air at elevated temperatures. The results presented in the literature by Stott and

his colleagues are quite comprehensive and detailed and conclusively demonstrate that metal oxides form

during rubbing and reduce friction and wear (17, 18). At elevated temperatures the oxides soften and become

more lubricious. 

Although thorough and enlightening on tribological mechanisms, their work does not consider the

baseline material for foil bearings (INCX-750) or the more recently available mechanically alloyed, oxide

dispersion strengthened materials like MA956. Our results, despite being collected under different contact

conditions (unidirectional versus oscillating contact) and with different alloys, mirror their work in many

respects. Namely, at elevated temperatures oxide surface layers form and reduce friction.

Figure 6, which shows the friction vs. temperature behavior for the metal disk surfaces tested against

Inconel X-750 pins suggests a distinct grouping. At room temperature, all of the six metal disk surfaces tested

have similar friction coefficients of around 0.5 to 0.6. At 500 °C and 800 °C, the alloys which readily form NiCr oxide surface layers (INCX-750, INC909,and R 41) show a noticeable reduction in friction. The presence 

of Ni-Cr oxides was inferred from Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) analyses which idenitifed Ni, Cr, and

O in the surface. Alloys which contain aluminum (IN713C, MA956, and MA956-OX) and tend to form Al2O3-

rich oxide layers, (inferred from EDS detection of Al and O) generally do not show a reduction in friction until

800 °C is reached.

These results suggest that the friction level may be controlled by the oxide layer hardness as well as

8
formation kinetics. Since NiO and Cr2O3 are considerably softer than Al2O3, lower friction observed for the

INCX-750 and INC909 at 500 °C may result from a lower shear stress for the nickel and chromium oxides at

500 °C.

FRICTION

Figure 8 which plots friction behavior for Al2O3 pins sliding against a disk made from INCX-750 ( a

high Ni-Cr alloy) and MA956 (an Al2O3 former) shows that disk composition has little effect on friction when

the pin material is ceramic. The reason(s) for this lack of sensitivity is not obvious, but may be due to the

differences in thermal conductivity of Al2O3 and INCX-750 pins. During sliding, the pin is under continuous

contact and therefore the pin surface experiences considerable frictional heating. The lower thermal

conductivity of the Al2O3 pins compared to metals, leads to a high surface temperature regardless of the disk

counterface material composition. Lack of friction coefficient sensitivity to the disk material composition, in

this case, suggests that the pin surface temperature increase is reducing the friction of even the Al2O3-forming

MA956 material at 500 °C. Thus, if friction reduction is a critical factor in material selection, the sliding

component in continuous contact should be made from the lowest thermal conductivity material to encourage

softening of surface oxide layers.

WEAR

Wear (wear factors) varied over a wide range from 10-6 to 10-2 mm3/N-m. In some instances,

especially at 800 °C, material transfer and buildup on the pin and/or disk confounded the wear measurements

suggesting little or no discernible wear.

At 25 °C, INC909, which has a high room temperature hardness (71-75 RC), exhibited five times

lower wear than the INCX-750 counterface pin. INC909, however, loses much of its hardness at elevated

temperature and at 800 °C galling of the disk and severe transfer ocurred. Similar behavior was exhibited by

the combination of INCX-750 and MA956. Clearly, poor tribological performance is obtained if the hardnesses

of the two mating materials are significantly divergent.

Hardness compatibility, however is apparently not a sufficient prerequisite for good wear combination

performance. When INCX-750 was slid against itself, galling and severe transfer occurred at 800 °C despite

9
the reduction in friction from 0.54 to 0.36. Self-mated sliding of MA956 produced severe wear and galling

especially at higher temperatures and was accompanied by stick/slip behavior. Preoxidation of the MA956

disks provide a lubrication effect at 800 °C perhaps by altering the sliding combination from self-mated

MA956 to MA956 versus an Al2O3 layer.

The best tribological combinations tested were INCX-750 pin versus R41 disks and Al2O3 pins versus

INCX-750 disks. The wear data suggests that in addition to retained (and possible comparable) hot hardness,

tribological performance is improved when the pin and disk were made from different materials.

A plausible explanation for this behavior is that the adhesive component of friction and wear is

reduced by using different material compositions hereby reducing the tendency for junction growth and

welding. The retained high hot hardness values of the materials (Al2O3, INCX-750 and R41) further improve

the sliding performance by providing a hard substrate for self forming surface oxide layer “lubricants”.

Nonetheless, even the most promising combinations tested in this study (INCX-750/R41 and Al2O3/INCX-750)

exhibited high wear (10-4 mm3/N-m) at 25 and 500 °C. For a practical application, solid lubrication will be

necessary.

SUMMARY REMARKS

The sliding couples tested in these experiments yielded moderate to high wear indicating a need for

solid lubrication. Baseline data collected at the various temperatures (25, 500, 800 °C) provided insight in the

role of material properties such as hardness and the effect of oxides on friction and wear. A few conclusions

can be made from these tests and give guidance for selecting suitable alternate foil bearing materials. 

Elevated temperatures tend to lead to the formation of oxides on specimen surfaces. The types of

oxides formed are important as the degree to which they reduce friction and wear at different temperatures is

dependent on the oxide properties. The Ni-Cr oxides formed on INCX-750, INC909, and R41 reduce friction

and wear at 500 °C and 800 °C. However, the alumina forming materials (IN713C, MA956, and MA956-OX)

do not show a reduction in friction until 800 °C is reached. Preoxidation treatments where a thin oxide ceramic

layer was formed on the disk surface can be useful in reducing friction, wear and galling. These results suggest

that a higher temperature (800 °C) is required to form a lubricating oxide for Al2

O3 forming alloys than for

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NiO-Cr2O3 forming alloys. Therefore, for applications where the operating temperatures are not expected to

exceed 500 °C, NiCr oxide forming alloys may be preferred.

At higher temperatures (500 and 800 °C) catastrophic gouging, galling or stick/slip behavior may

occur. The softness of the MA956 material proved to be critical when coupled with the INCX-750 pin

materials. Deep gouging wear occurred at the higher temperatures although a preformed oxide layer existed. In

general, when materials of significantly differing hardness are in contact, the softer material is more likely to

wear faster than its counterface. Therefore, hardness comparability is also necessary when coupled materials of

dissimilar compositions are being considered for applications. Self-mated sliding produces galling and high

friction at elevated temperatures, suggesting that for the materials tested comparable hardness and dissimilar

compositions are required for good tribological performance.

High temperature applications require materials which are capable of performing from startup to

shutdown temperatures and provide low friction and wear. The results presented in this paper suggest that

unlubricated metal/metal combinations are not likely candidates for long term practical applications. Further

research is needed to develop high temperature solid lubricants capable of surviving the foil bearing

environment and providing lubrication from low ambient temperatures to over 650 °C. These materials or their

combinations considered in this report may be a good starting point for future research.

REFERENCES

1. Heshmat, H., “Advanced Development of Air-Lubricated Foil Thrust Bearings,” ASME/STLE Lubrication

Conference, Washington D.C., Preprint 82 6 1 − −− LC B (Oct. 1982).

2. Heshmat, H. And Hermel, P., “Compliant Foil Bearings Technology and Their Application to High Speed 

Turbomachinery,” in Thin Films in Tribology, Dowson, D., et al., eds., Elsevier, Amsterdam, Tribology

Series, 25, (1993), pp. 559-575.

3. Heshmat, C.A. and Heshmat, H., “An Analysis of Gas-Lubricated, Multileaf Foil Journal Bearings With 

Backing Springs,” J. Tribol., 117, pp. 437-443, (1995).

4. Gray, S., Heshmat, H., and Bhushan, B., “Technology Progress on Compliant Foil Air Bearing Systems for 

Commercial Applications,” in 8th International Gas Bearing Symposium, BHRA Fluid Engineering,

Cranfield, Bedford, England, (1981), pp. 559-575.

5. Heshmat, H., “Advancements in the Performance of Aerodynamic Foil Journal Bearings: High Speed and 

Load Capability,” J. Tribol., 116, pp. 287-295, (1994).

6. Heshmat, H., Shapiro, W., and Artiles, A., “Application of Compliant Foil Fluid Film Bearings to the HighPressure Oxygen Turbopump of the SSME,” in 1992 Conference on Advanced Earth-to-Orbit Propulsion 

Technology, Vol. 2, (1992), pp. 429-438.

11
7. Walton, J.F., and Heshmat, H., “Compliant Foil Bearings for Use in Cryogenic Turbopumps,” vol. 2, NASA

CP–3282, (1994) pp. 372-381. 

8. DellaCorte, C., and Wood, J.C. ,“High Temperature Solid Lubricant Materials for Heavy Duty and

Advanced Heat Engines,” NASA, Cleveland, OH., NASA TM–106570, (1994).

9. "Inconel alloy X-750," Product Handbook, Inco Alloys international, "Huntington, West Virginia, (1988),

 p. 11. 

10. ASM Internation, “Metals Handbook,” 10th ed., (1990), p. 963.

11. Morris, R.J., “Rene’ 41...New Higher-Strength Nickel-Base Alloy,” Metal Prog. 76, 6, pp. 67-70, (1959).

12. Metals Handbook, 9th ed., Vol. 3, Properties and Selection: Stainless Steels, Tool Materials and 

Special Purpose Metals, American Society for Metals, Metals Park, Ohio, 1978, p. 247.

13. "Incoloy alloy MA956," IncoMAP, Inco Alloys International, Huntington, West Virginia, (1990).

14. Benoy, P.A., and DellaCorte, C., "Au/Cr Sputter Coating for the Protection of Alumina During Sliding at 

High Temperatures," NASA, Cleveland, Ohio, NASA TM–106853, (1995).

15. DellaCorte, C., and Pepper, S.V., “Tribological Properties of Ag/Ti Films on Al2O3 Ceramic Substrates,”

NASA, Cleveland, Ohio, NASA TM–103784, (1991).

16. DellaCorte, C., “Composition Optimization of Chromium Carbide Based Solid Lubricant Coatings for Foil 

Gas Bearings at Temperatures to 650 °C,” NASA, Cleveland, Ohio, NASA CR–179649, July 1987.

17. Stott, F.H., Lin, D.S., and Wood, G.C., “The Structure and Mechanism of Formation of the ‘Glaze’ Oxide 

Layers Produced on Nickel-Based Alloys During Wear at High Temperature,” Corros. Sci., vol. 13, 

pp. 449-469, (1973).

18. Barnes, D.J., Stott, F.H., and Wood, G.C., “The Frictional Behaviour of Iron and Iron-Chromium Alloys at 

Elevated Temperatures,” Wear, vol. 45, pp. 199-209, (1977).

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TABLE 1.—DISK MATERIAL PROPERTIES

Test materials

wt% composition

INCX-750 INC909 MA956 Rene ́ 41 IN713C

Cr 14-17 20.0 19.0 12.5

Fe 5-9 42.16 74.0 0.30

Al 0.4-1 0.03 4.50 1.50 6.1

Ti 2.25-2.75 1.50 0.50 3.10 0.8

Y2O3 0.50

Ni balance 38.2 55.1 74

Nb + Ta 0.7-1.20

Mn 1.00

Si 0.50 0.40

W 0.01

Cu 0.50

C 0.08 0.01 0.12

Co 1.00 13.0 11.0

Nb 4.70 2

B 0.012

Mo 10.0 4.2

Zr 0.1

Melting point (°C) 1390-1430 1395-1430 1480 1400 1260-1290

Density (g/cc) at RT 8.25 8.30 7.20 8.25 7.91

Hardness, Rc (at R.T) 32-38 71-75 20-23 35-40 38-42

Elastic modulus, E(GPa) 214 159 269 219 205

Tensile strength (MPa) at RT 1200 1310 645 1420 850

TABLE 2.—ALUMINA PROPERTIES

% Composition Melting

point, °C

Density,

g/cc

Thermal

conductivity,

w/m K

Young’s

modulus,

GPa

Vickers hardness

GPa

99.9 Al2O3, and trace 2054 3.9 22 386 21-24

13
TABLE 3.—TRIBO-DATA FOR VARIOUS PIN-DISK COMBINATIONS

[Test conditions: Air atmosphere, 4.9 N load, 1 m/s sliding velocity, 30 to

60 minutes test time, 50% relative humidity.]

Specimens Test

temperature

Wear factors (mm3/N-m) Friction

coefficient

Pin Disk °C k (pin) k (disk) μ

INCX-750 INCX-750

25

500

800

3.00x10-4±0.57

6.70x10-5±4.7

[1]

1.85x10-4±0.92

2.65x10-5±0.50

[1]

0.54±0.03

0.40±0.05

0.36±0.08

INCX-750 MA956

25

500

800

1.05x10-4±0.26

1.11x10-4±0.18

[1]

1.83x-4±0.61

8.57x10-3±4.3

[1]

0.60±0.04

1.02±0.06

[1]

INCX-750 MA956-OX

25

500

800

6.30x10-5±1.1

1.01x10-4±0.35

5.65x10-5±5.7

6.5x10-4±0.14

6.17x-3±0.84

8.8x10-4±3.1

0.64±0.05

0.87±0.15

0.34±0.00

INCX-750 INC909

25

500

800

2.03x10-3±2.6

2.84x10-6±3.4

[1]

3.11x10-4±1.4

[1]

[1]

0.61±0.01

0.36±0.05

0.40±0.03

INCX-750 IN713CX

25

500

800

1.07x10-4±0.51

3.90x10-4±1.9

6.63x10-4±1.3

1.62x10-3

[2]

[2]

0.68±0.02

0.64±0.01

0.34±0.4

INCX-750 Rene ́41

25

500

800

2.04x10-4±3.0

7.29x10-6±6.7

[2]

1.32x10-4±0.45

2.0x10-4±1.7

[2]

0.50±0.06

0.31±0.07

0.27±0.02

MA956 MA956

25

500

800

1.20x10-3[5]

1.35x10-4±0.35

5.70x10-4±2.3

1.05x10-3±0.07

7.30x10-3±2.0

1.55x10-2±0.50

0.68±0.03

0.89±0.20

0.88±0.07

MA956 MA956-OX

25

500

800

8.75x10-4±0.07

2.80x10-4±1.3

3.40x10-4±1.4

1.25x10-3±0.07

7.10x10-3±0.85

2.71x10-3±2.5

0.68±0.68

0.92±0.14

0.40±0.01

Al2O3 MA956

25

500

800

9.95x10-5±0.07

7.70x10-5±0.42

5.20x10-5 [3]

1.12x10-3±0.26

1.07x10-3±0.18

-1.05x10-4±5.6

0.68±0.03

0.47±0.01

0.30±0.01

Al2O3 INCX-750

25

500

800

4.15x10-5±3.6

7.05x10-6±3.3

1.10x10-5±0.96

5.40x10-4±1.4

1.6x10-4±0.42

-0.86x10-7±6.6

0.67±0.06

0.39±0.05

0.29±0.04

 [1] No wear volumes or wear factors calculated due to severe wear and galling.

 [2] Transfer/Build up from pin/disk occurred.

 [3] Data points identical-no scatter measured.

 [4] Negative values indicate transfer-positive wear.

14
15

Top foil

Bump foil

Figure 1.—Bearing cross section.

Journal

10 μm

Metallographic mount

Oxide scale

MA956 bulk

Figure 2.—SEM micrograph cross-section of MA956 after

 20 hr heat treatment at 1100 °C in air showing oxide scale.
16

Gimbal

assembly

Friction

force

Applied

load

Rider

Wear

track

Disk

Direction of

rotation

Friction

specimens

Pyrometer

window

Coaxial electrical

feed-through

Coolant

water

Electrical

insulation

Induction heating coil

Support

bearing

spindle

Figure 3.—High temperature pin-on-disk rig.

Applied

load
17

25

500

800

Temperature,

°C

INCX750

MA956

10–6

10–5

10–4

10–3

10–2

10–1

100

INCX750

MA956-OX

INCX750

INCX750

INCX750

IN713C

INCX750

INC909

INCX750

R41

Al2O3

INCX750

* * **

Al2O3

MA956

MA956

MA956

MA956

MA956-OX

K-factor, mm3/N-m

Pin

Disk

Figure 4.—Pin wear factor data for tests conducted under 4.9 N load, 1 m/s sliding velocity in air. Asterisk (*)

 denotes severe galling or test termination - no data available.

25

500

800

Temperature,

°C

INCX750

MA956

10–6

10–5

10–4

10–3

10–2

10–1

100

INCX750

MA956-OX

INCX750

INCX750

INCX750

IN713C

INCX750

INC909

INCX750

R41

Al2O3

INCX750

* * **

Al2O3

MA956

MA956

MA956

MA956

MA956-OX

K-factor, mm3/N-m

Pin

Disk

Figure 5.—Disk wear factor for tests conducted under 4.9 N load, 1 m/s sliding velocity in air. Asterisk (*) denotes

 severe galling or test termination - no data available.

* **
18

0.0

0.2

0 200

Temperature, °C

Figure 6.—Friction coefficient vs. temperature for INCX-750

 pins sliding on various alloys.

400 600 800

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2

Friction coefficient, μ

MA956

MA956-OX

INCX-750

IN713C

INC909

R41

0.0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1.0

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Time, min

Friction coefficient, μ

Figure 7.—Typical friction vs. time plot for Al2O3 pin vs.

 INCX-750 disk, 4.9 N load, 1 m/s sliding velocity in air at

 500 °C.

0.0

0.1

0 200

Temperature, °C

Figure 8.—Friction coefficient vs. temperature for Al2O3 pins

 sliding on various alloys.

400 600 800

Friction coefficient, μ

INCX-750

MA956

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1.0
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Unclassified Unclassified

Technical Memorandum

Unclassified

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Lewis Research Center

Cleveland, Ohio 44135–3191

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Washington, D.C. 20546– 0001

1. AGENCY USE ONLY (Leave blank)

July 1996

NASA TM–107082

DOE/NASA/50306–11

E–9958

WU–505–63–5A

Unclassified - Unlimited

Subject Category 23

This publication is available from the NASA Center for AeroSpace Information, (301) 621–0390.

22

A03

DOE Category UC–373

Friction and Wear Characteristics of Candidate Foil Bearing Materials From

25 °C to 800 °C

J.A. Laskowski and C. DellaCorte

The friction and wear behavior of unlubricated metal/metal sliding couples was investigated to screen potential candidates for high temperature foil bearings. The tribo-tests were run in an induction-heated high temperature pin-on-disk

tribometer in an air atmosphere at a load of 4.9 N and at a sliding velocity of 1 m/s. The friction and wear properties of

several nickel based alloys (Rene' 41, Inconel X–750, Inconel 713C), iron based alloys (MA956 and Inconel 909) and a

ceramic (Al2O3) were tested at 25 500, and 800 °C. In general, at elevated temperatures the alloys oxidized and formed a

tenacious and lubricous oxide surface film or layer. At 800 °C, Inconel X–750 versus Rene' 41 had the lowest friction

coefficient (0.27) and at 500 °C, Inconel X–750 versus Inconel 909 the lowest pin wear (2.84x10-6 mm3/N-m). Gouging

and severe wear of the softer material occurred whenever a significant difference in hardness existed between the pin and

disk specimens.

Friction; Wear; Bearings

Prepared for the Annual Meeting sponsored by the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers, Cincinnati, Ohio,

May 19–23, 1996. Under interagency Agreement DE–AI01–91CE–50306. J.A. Laskowski, Parks College, Cahokia, Illinois

and C. DellaCorte, NASA Lewis Research Center. Responsible person, C. DellaCorte, organization code 5140, (216) 433–6056.