Solid Lubrication in Iron Based Materials ? A Review

The wide choice of materials available today has posed a major challenge for designers and engineers to select the most suitable material and manufacturing process for any engineering application. The mechanical and tribological properties have been a great concern, as the life of a product significantly depends upon these two aspects. Researchers have developed various composites with different compositions comprising of metals or metals with non metallic fillers to enhance these properties economically. Development of various Iron based antifriction composite materials is one amongst such composites as these are readily available with low cost. Sintered steels are also being used in gears and bearings due to economic and technical characteristics. Thus, new compositions with improved wear and friction properties have become a thrust area for tribologists and designers in the research world. This paper presents a review on various solid lubricants used in ferrous based compositions in order to enhance the mechanical and tribological properties.