Effect of cooling rate on C92900 bronze microstructure and properties

In the mechanical engineering, antifriction tin bronzes are used for the manufacture of friction parts. For example, the C92900 bronze has found use in aircraft braking system components. One of the ways to improve the properties of leaded tin bronzes is to increase the cooling rate during solidification. This paper studies the effect of the cooling rate and changes in the content of alloying elements within the limits established by the C92900 bronze industry standard OST 1 90054-72. In order to provide different cooling rates, the prepared alloys were casted into molds made of resin-bonded sand, steel and graphite with cooling rates 0.4, 5.0, and 14.6 °C/s, respectively. The influence of the cooling rate and the bronze composition on the freezing range, macrostructure, microstructure, thermal conductivity, mechanical, and tribological properties were investigated. Differential thermal analysis demonstrated that the upper-limit alloying of C92900 bronze leads to a decrease of the solidus temperature by 40 °C, which should be considered during deformation processing and heat treatment. An increase in the cooling rate during C92900 bronze ingot solidification provides a significant grain refinement and changes the amount, size and morphology of phases. For example, in case of metallic and graphite mold casting, the size of lead particles decreases, and its circularity increases. The change in the Sn content within the range established by the industrial standard has a significant effect on the γ-(Cu,Ni)₃Sn intermetallic phase fraction. The increase in the cooling rate has no significant effect on the C92900 bronze thermal conductivity but increases hardness by 30 HB as well as cooling rate and yield strength and ultimate tensile strength. Wear tests carried out in accordance with the «shaft – partial insert» scheme in a kerosene medium using a steel counterbody showed that an increase in the cooling rate during solidification leads to an increase in the bronze wear rate from ~0.4·10^–8 to ~1.2·10^–8. The change in the bronze composition within the industrial standard range has practically no effect on the wear rate but leads to a slight increase of the coefficient of friction.

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