MECHANISM OF METAL AND ALLOY WEARING IN HYDROGEN-CONTAINING MEDIA

The results of theoretical and experimental investigations into the me chanism of hydrogen wearing of machine friction units exposed to micro biological media are presented. It is shown that reactions of biochemi cal synthesis, activated by friction, speed up considerably the dissoc iation of hydrogen molecules on a metal surface. This also intensifies adsorption and diffusion of hydrogen in a metal since in these condit ion the rate of dissociation of hydrogen molecules into atoms is much higher than that in a gas medium. This fact is very important because saturation and penetration of hydrogen into metals is determined by th e rate of surface processes under friction on the phase boundary, and this influences the selection of techniques and materials to be used f or developing protective coatings. Copyright (C) 1996 International As sociation for Hydrogen Energy