Influence of microstructure on erosion resistance of steels

Erosive wear due to solid particle impingement is a very intensive degradation process of surface layers of metallic materials. Erosion resistance is influenced by the working conditions (impact angle, impact velocity of solid particles, size, shape, hardness and amount of impinging particles) and the parameters of the worn material like hardness and microstructure. In our experiments some structural and tool steels were tested by slurry with SiO₂ particles at a flow velocity of 20 m/s. The microstructures of the tested steels were modified in a broad range by changing the conditions of their heat treatment. Increasing pearlite share in the structure of annealed carbon and low-alloyed steels has a positive effect on their erosion resistance. The growing carbon content in the tested hardened steels increases their erosion resistance. Maximum erosion resistance was found in hardened chromium ledeburite steel. Hardened high-speed steel HS 11-0-4 in spite of its high hardness has lower erosion resistance than ledeburitic chomium steels. An increasing amount of retained austenite and decreasing carbide and martensite shares with growing quenching temperature of the tested ledeburitic chromium steels leads to the reduction of their erosion resistance.     

Effects of microstructure and experimental parameters on high stress abrasive wear behaviour of a 0.19 wt% C dual phase steel

The present investigation is aimed at understanding the influence of the size and quantity of ferrite plus martensite on mechanical and abrasive wear properties in a 0.19 wt% C dual phase steel. The results indicate that the mechanical properties like strength, ductility and impact, as well as abrasion resistance of the samples are greatly influenced by the material and test conditions. For example, the samples involving prior annealing showed higher ductility but less strength over the normalized specimens. Also, the increasing intercritical annealing temperature led to superior strength associated with reduced ductility. The wear rate increased with load and abrasive size due to a larger depth of cut made by the abrasive medium. The wear rate decreased as sliding distance increased. The steel subjected to prior normalizing treatment attained superior wear resistance to that of the one subjected to prior annealing treatment. The wear rate also decreased with increasing intercritical annealing temperature from 765 to 805 °C with an exception that the steel treated at 805 °C exhibited wear rate comparable to the one treated at 765 °C when tested against coarser size (40 μm) abrasive.     

Influence of sliding frequency on reciprocating wear of mold steel with different microstructures

The wear resistance of a low alloy plastic mold steel has been studied under pin-on-flat reciprocating configuration against AISI 52100 steel pins, under variable sliding frequency. The as-received material (HTO; 33 HRC) was heat treated under variable conditions to obtain different microstructures and hardness (HT1, quenched 880 °C, 58 HRC; HT2, tempered 550 °C, 43.4 HRC; HT3, tempered 300 °C, 52 HRC; HT4, annealed, 26 HRC). Under low sliding frequency (1 Hz), no significant differences in the wear resistance of the different materials are observed. Only at 8 Hz, a relationship between hardness and wear resistance is found. The softer annealed material HT4 shows an increasing wear rate under increasing frequency, while the quenched steel HT1 gives the lowest wear at the highest frequency. Wear mechanisms have been studied from SEM and EDS observations. Only HT4 shows a transition from the abrasive and oxidative wear mechanisms found in all cases to an adhesive wear mechanism under the highest frequency.     

Comparison of wear properties of tool steels AISI D2 and O1 with the same hardness

Two commercial cold work tool steels, AISI D2 and O1, were heat treated in order to obtain the same hardness 700 HV (60 HRc) and were subsequently tested in three different modes of wear, namely in adhesion, three-body and two-body abrasion, by using pin-on-disk, dry sand/rubber wheel apparatus and pin abrasion on SiC, respectively. Even though AISI O1 and D2 steel are heat treated to the same hardness, they perform differently under the three modes of wear examined. The results show that the steel microstructures play the most important role in determining the wear properties. For relatively low sliding speeds AISI O1 steel performs up to 12 times better than AISI D2 steel in adhesive wear. For higher sliding speeds, however, this order is reversed due to oxidation taking place on the surface of the AISI D2 steel. The wear rate of both tool steels in three-body and two-body abrasion wear is proportional to the applied load. In three-body abrasive wear, AISI D2 exhibits a normalised wear rate about two times lower than the AISI O1 tool steel, and this is due to the presence of the plate-like hard carbides in its microstructure. Both tool steels perform 3–8 times better in three-body abrasive wear conditions than in two-body abrasive wear.     

Experimental setup for testing and mapping of high temperature abrasion and oxidation synergy

Performance and lifetime of engineering materials at high temperature are affected by degradation of a material under wear and corrosion to a great extent. To assess the material performance at high temperature, the most detrimental processes and their interactions should be known and understood for materials selection and design of new advanced materials. The present study introduces an experimental setup for testing and mapping of high temperature abrasion taking into consideration the process of oxidation. A new design of a test rig has been developed at Tallinn University of Technology to provide synergy study of wear and oxidation and to improve the effectiveness of control and monitoring the mechanisms of materials failure at room and high temperatures (up to 1000 °C). Methodology for assessment and mapping of the effects of abrasion and corrosion on materials performance are presented along with some results obtained for high temperature abrasion of titanium carbide- and chromium carbide-based cermets as well as for steel.     

Sliding abrasion resistance assessment of metallic materials for elevated temperature mineral processing conditions

The multiplicity of harsh environments in mining, processing and transporting ore and related waste, cause severe wear, extremely high maintenance costs and lost production.Elevated temperature processing is one of the conditions that influence the performance of possible materials of construction. This takes the forms of reduced hardness and strength, deleterious changes in the structure and properties of materials during protracted exposure and increased oxidation and corrosion.Drag chain conveying of hot solids e.g. in smelting, typically results in three-body sliding abrasion and adhesive wear of connecting pins and hole surfaces in link assemblies and of moving paddles that impel the particulates in enclosed channels. Selected materials have been assessed for this type of service under reciprocating sliding abrasion contact conditions using an adapted Cameron-Plint TE77 wear rig at 20 °C and 350 °C. These include the current carburised low alloy steel, other steels, Cr white irons and Co-based alloys in bulk, overlay and surface treated forms.Examination of wear scars, using scanning electron microscopy, identified the main wear mechanisms affecting the highly resistant powder metallurgical (PM) tool steels and HVOF coating as micro-scratching and as indentation leading to micro-fracture. Materials with lowest resistance displayed evidence of significant material removal by micro-ploughing. The formation of oxide layers on some samples during testing appeared to be beneficial.     

The abrasive wear of steels in South African soils

A high carbon steel was heat treated to produce a range of microstructures and mechanical properties. These steels were subjected to abrasion testing in stony, clay, and sandy soils. Wear rates were found to be twenty times higher in stony soil than in sandy soil and seven times greater than in clay. It was found that the relative wear resistance increased in sandy and clay soils with increase in steel hardness. In stony soils the relative wear resistance of all steels was found to be similar. An explanation for such behaviour was formulated on the basis of surface temperature heating and work hardening effects. The aggressive nature of abrasion found in stony soils was also found to give rise to the appearance of very hard white layers on the steel surfaces.     

Abrasive wear behaviour of hardened high strength boron steel

Abstract

Abrasive wear in industrial applications such as mining, materials handling and agricultural machinery constitutes a large part of the total wear. Hardened high strength boron steels are known for their good wear resistance and mechanical properties, but available results in the open literature are scarce. This work aims at investigating how different quenching techniques affect the two-body abrasive wear resistance of hardened high strength boron steels. Furthermore, the wear as a function of depth in thicker hardened high strength boron steel plates has also been studied. The material characterisation has been carried out using microhardness, SEM/energy dispersive spectroscopy and three-dimensional optical surface profilometry. The results have shown that water quenched and tool quenched high strength boron steel had similar wear resistance. The main wear mechanisms appear to be microcutting combined with microfatigue. Workhardening during the abrasion process has been found to affect the abrasive wear.     

Abrasive wear resistance of some commercial abrasion resistant steels evaluated by laboratory test methods

The aim of the present study is to evaluate the abrasive wear resistance of some potential abrasion resistant steels exposed to different types of abrasive wear contact conditions typical of mining and transportation applications. The steels investigated, include a ferritic stainless steel, a medium alloyed ferritic carbon steel and a medium alloyed martensitic carbon steel.The abrasive wear resistance of the steels was evaluated using two different laboratory test methods, i.e. pin-on-disc testing and paddle wear testing that expose the materials to sliding abrasion and impact abrasion, respectively. All tests were performed under dry conditions in air at room temperature. In order to evaluate the tribological response of the different steels post-test characterization of the worn surfaces were performed using optical surface profilometry, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Besides, characterization of the wear induced sub-surface microstructure was performed using optical microscopy.The results show that depending on the abrasive conditions a combination of high hardness and toughness (fracture strain) is of importance in order to obtain a high wear resistance. In the pin-on-disc test (i.e. in sliding abrasion) these properties seem to be controlled by the as-rolled microstructure of the steels although a thin triboinduced sub-surface layer (5–10 μm in thickness) may influence the results. In contrast, in the paddle wear test (i.e. in impact abrasion), resulting in higher forces acting perpendicular to the surface by impacting stones, these properties are definitely controlled by the properties of the active sub-surface layer which also contains small imbedded stone fragments.     

Effect of heat treatment conditions and composition on the wear resistance of some chromium steels

Effect of tempering and austenitizing temperatures on the abrasive wear resistance of chromium cast steel balls containing 1 to 12% Cr has been studied. Wet and dry wear tests were carried out. The optimum tempering temperature was found to be about 180°C. Higher austenitizing temperatures were bettwer for obtaining greater wear resistance, which could be improved by increasing the chromium content. This effect was more marked at lower chromium contents. Factorial analysis of experiments showed that the effects of austenitizing temperature, tempering temperature and chromium content were significant with 95% confidence. The wet wear resistance of the investigated steel depended on their microstructure and chemical composition rather than their normal corrosion resistance     

The wear-resistant coating of steel by chemical vapour deposition

There is a steady increase in the use of chemical vapour deposition to deposit carbides of the transition metals onto the surface of steel. In this process the transition metal, in the form of a volatile chloride, is normally carried to the surface in a controlled manner by a carrier gas together with a carbon-containing reactant such as a gaseous hydrocarbon. These react at the steel surface to form a carbide layer on it which is smooth, hard, continuous and wear and corrosion resistant. The general features of the process are described for the specific coatings of titanium carbide and chromium carbide on high alloy ledeburitic carbon steels. By way of illustration three examples are discussed which are of industrial significance.     

Effect of Nickel on the Wear Rate of Fe‐Cr‐C‐Ni Steel Under Sliding Friction

Under sliding friction, nickel (0.3–4.2 wt.%) alloyed with chromium steel (1.2 wt.% carbon; 15 wt.% chromium) exerts a fundamental influence upon the initial structure of the steel and the phase composition and structure of the near‐surface friction layers. The minimum wear of the steel occurs when there is a dynamic equilibrium between the dislocation densities in the α‐ and γ‐phases and a ratio between the γ‐ and α‐phases of 50:50 for steels after quenching and 25:75 for steels after tempering in the near‐surface friction layers.     

Effects of vanadium and carbon on microstructures and abrasive wear resistance of high speed steel

The effects of vanadium and carbon on microstructures and abrasive wear resistance of high speed steel were studied. The results show that the microstructures are characterized by VC, M₇C₃ and Mo₂C in the martensite and austenite matrix. Typical morphologies of vanadium carbides are found to be spherical, lumpy, strip, and short rod. On the other hand, the vanadium carbides have three kinds of distributions, i.e. grain boundary, chrysanthemum-like, and homogeneous distributions. The abrasive wear resistance of high speed steel depends on the hardness and microstructures. When the hardness is lower than HRC58, the abrasive wear resistance of the high speed steel mainly depends on its hardness. But when the hardness is higher than HRC58, it mainly depends on the amount, morphology and distribution of VC in the matrix. Many spherical or lumpy VC carbides are obtained when vanadium and carbon content is up to 8.15–10.20 and 2.70–3.15%. The excellent abrasive wear resistance would be obtained if such VC carbides disperse uniformly in the hardened matrix of high speed steel after quenched at 1050 °C and tempered at 550 °C.     

TP1000涂层刀具车削淬硬钢的磨损与破损形态

用TP1000涂层刀具对淬硬45钢和淬硬T10A钢进行了正交车削实验,并进行了相应的扫描电镜(SEM)和X射线衍射(XRD)分析。结果表明,切削淬硬45钢时,涂层刀具发生了磨损和破损,磨损机理主要是磨料磨损和氧化磨损,破损机理主要是涂层剥落。切削淬硬T10A钢时,涂层刀具主要发生破损,破损机理主要是涂层开裂、剥落和崩刃。     

Study of abrasive wear phenomena in dry and slurry 3-body conditions

Machinery and equipment used in abrasive environments, such as the mining industry, suffer from severe wear. In order to understand wear and to prolong the life time of the machinery, it is important to understand how materials respond to wear depending on the environmental and tribological conditions imposed.This paper exposes a comparative study between the influence of two abrasive environments (dry and slurry) on hard particle coatings and steels. To study this, the 3-body wear behaviour was evaluated in a dry environment using a continuous abrasion test (CAT) and in a slurry environment using a slurry steel wheel abrasion test (SSWAT) method. Both tests are capable of experimentally modelling the high stress wear at 45 N and 216 N, using quartz sand as an abrasive. The tests were performed on two types of coatings processed by sintering and hardfacing and martensitic steel was used as a reference. The wear was indicated as volume loss by measuring the samples before and after the tests. Furthermore, the specific wear energy was calculated in order to have a fundamental understanding about the material's response to wear. A correlation between the wear rate and the particle brakeage index (PBI) was done for the dry conditions using different loads, in order to explain the interdependence between the two parameters and the change in the wear mechanism between the two loads. The influence of load on the wear of the materials showed different wear mechanisms on coatings compared to the steel in the same environmental conditions. However, a change in wear mechanism at different load levels was observed, which might be directly dependent on the change of the particle's motion from sliding to rolling combined with the change in their shape and size. The results showed that the need to study the influence of different abrasive conditions on the material wear is crucial in order to improve the lifetime and the cost efficiency of the machinery used in such environments. The hard-particle coatings showed comparatively low wear rates promising a great potential in improving the lifetime of industrial equipments in different environments.     

The tribological properties of PTFE filled with thermally treated nano-attapulgite

The nano-attapulgite powder was treated by heating at 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700 and 800 °C for 2 h in a muffle furnace. PTFE composites were prepared by compression molding PTFE and thermally treated nano-attapulgite. The friction and wear tests were performed on a block-on-ring wear tester. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectrometer (EDS) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) were utilized to investigate material microstructures and examine modes of failure. Experimental results showed that under all experimental conditions there was no significant change in coefficient of friction, but the wear rate of PTFE composites was orders of magnitude less than that of pure PTFE under same experimental conditions. Moreover, thermally treated attapulgite was superior to untreated attapulgite in enhancing the wear resistance of PTFE. In addition, the wear resistance increased monotonically with increasing treated attapulgite concentration. Hardness analysis revealed the hardness of PTFE composites increased with increasing content of treated attapulgite. Investigation of transfer film and analysis of debris for PTFE and its composites showed that thermally treated nano-attapulgite filled to PTFE could facilitate formation of transfer film on the steel ring surface and inhibit breakage of PTFE molecular chain. The composites with higher heat absorption capacity exhibited improved wear resistance. Furthermore, the steel ring counterface abrasion was not found.     

Tribological Behavior of a 0.33% C Dual-Phase Steel with Pre I/C Hardening and Tempering Treatment under Abrasive Wear Condition

The present study investigates the effect of prior hardening and tempering treatment on the microstructure, mechanical properties, and high-stress abrasive wear response of 0.33% carbon dual-phase (DP) steel. For this purpose, two different DP steels were produced by subjecting the as-received steel to hardening (DP-H) and hardening + tempering (DP-HT) treatments prior to the intercritical (I/C) annealing treatment. These steels along with the as-received steel were subsequently characterized by optical and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) metallography. Furthermore, tensile properties were evaluated along with microhardness measurements. The fracture surfaces of the failed tensile specimens were studied under SEM. Prior hardening and tempering treatment resulted in the formation of a nearly spherical martensite (aspect ratio = 1.2 ± 0.13) phase along with fine iron carbides in DP-HT steel. These fine iron carbides and spherical martensite act as the void nucleation sites in DP-HT steel. Therefore, DP-HT steel exhibits good ductility along with reasonable strength. On contrary, DP-H steel exhibits the presence of a fine elongated martensite (aspect ratio = 6.1 ± 3) phase, which causes poor ductility. Furthermore, abrasion tests were carried out at varying sliding distances at three different applied loads. Dual-phase treatment results in improved overall wear response. Moreover, tempering of prior hardened steel leads to improvement in wear resistance in DP-HT steel under all conditions studied in comparison with DP-H steel. This is attributed to higher strain hardening and greater resistance to particle scooping in DP-HT steel.     

Friction and wear measurements of laser-sintered and coated parts

The aim of this research is the investigation of surface properties, the measurements of friction coefficient and wear rate of laser-sintered and coated parts. The industrial background of this research is to prove applicability of laser-sintered prototype tools for injection moulding of fibre-reinforced polymers, furthermore to increase the wear resistance of unalloyed steel tools by laser coatings. The materials of the test specimens were laser-sintered phosphorous bronze and unalloyed steel. For increase of wear resistance we used hard Co-based and glassy-like Fe-based (FeB) coatings. As counter bodies we used polymers reinforced with short carbon and glass fibres. The laboratory model tests of selective laser-sintered parts were carried out on a pin-on-disk machine. In case of coated parts—with higher wear resistance—we used a cylinder-on-cylinder tribometer. The tribological properties were determined at different load and temperature conditions. The results of the investigation show that the friction coefficient and wear resistance of laser treated surfaces are good. The coefficient of friction of coated specimens is slightly less, but the wear rate is significantly less.     

Wear behaviour of some low alloyed steels under combined impact/abrasion contact conditions

The wear behaviour of some low alloyed steels has been investigated using a laboratory impeller–tumbler wear test equipment in which the steel samples are worn by angular granite particles under combined impact/abrasion wear contact conditions. The wear of the steels was evaluated by weight loss of the steel samples while the wear mechanisms of the steels were investigated by post-test light optical microscopy (LOM), scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray analysis. The worn steel surfaces display a very rough surface topography with pronounced craters and distinct grooves caused by high and low angle impacts, i.e. abrasive wear, respectively. Besides, fragments of embedded granite particles are frequently observed in the worn surface of the steels. The wear of the steels tends to decrease with increasing steel hardness. However, instead of using the bulk hardness value the hardness of the worn/plastically deformed surface layer should be used when modelling the wear resistance. Further, the wear resistance of the steels was found to be dependent on the microstructure and chemical composition. Steels with similar type of microstructure show a linear decrease in weight loss with decreasing grain size and increasing carbon content.     

Abrasive wear behavior of boronized AISI 8620 steel

In this study, AISI 8620 steel was boronized using the solid state boronizing technique. Processes were carried out at the temperatures of 850, 900 and 950 °C for 2, 4 and 6 h of treatment. Abrasive wear behavior of the samples boronized at different temperatures and treatment durations have been examined. Using boronized and unboronized samples, abrasive tests were conducted using pin on disc test apparatus. 80 and 120 mesh aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃) abrasive papers were used in the abrasion experiments and the samples were subjected to abrasion under 10, 20 and 30 N loads. Boronized steels exhibited an improvement in abrasive wear resistance reaching up to 500%. Microstructures and wear surfaces of the samples were inspected using SEM microscopy. SEM examinations revealed that the thickness of the boride layer on the steel surfaces changes with changing process durations and temperatures. The presence of boride formed in the borided layer at the surface of the steels were determined by XRD analysis and microhardness values of the iron borides (FeB, Fe₂B) formed on the steel surface were found to be over 1600 HV.