Abstract: The friction and wear performances of high-strength zinc foundry alloys (ZA-12 and ZA-27) were studied by comparing with that of bronze ZQSn6-6-3 under dry friction condit ion. The experiments were conducted on model MM-200 wear tester with a stationary specimen of alloys to be tested and a turning specimen of carbon steel 45, which has been quenched and tempered to HB 220-240. Under the conditions of 200rpm of speed, 500N of load and 10 minutes of time, the results are as follows: (1) The friction coefficient for the zinc alloy-15 steel pairs is close to that of the hronze-45 steel pairs. (2) Friction moment-time curves for the zinc alloy-45# steel pairs exhibit slight fluctuation, and the interfacial slip is smoothly whereas friction moment-time curves for the bronze-45# steel pairs show strong fluctuation, demonstrating severe stick-slip processes. (3) The wear rate of the zinc alloys is 2-3 orders of magnitude less than that of the bronze. This means that the zinc alloys may still safely work for a short time when an accidental failure of lubrication occurs.