4. Conclusion

Alongside the four classic ceramics, such as Al ₂ O ₃ , ZrO ₂ , SiC or Si ₃ N ₄ , other ceramic composites have appeared, such as Si ₃ N ₄ -TiN, SiC-TiB ₂ or SiC-TiC and SiSiC, but also NbC. These ceramics offer good resistance to seizure and can be tribologically stressed at high temperatures. Their resistance to wear is close to that of hard metals and cermets, which offer better mechanical properties, but at a lower cost and less resistant to corrosion than ceramics. Tribo-oxidation is responsible for the good wear resistance of non-oxide...