Influence of abrasive hardness on the wear resistance of high chromium irons

The resistance to abrasive wear was determined for a series of alloyed white cast irons in a high stress abrasion test which utilizes a specimen in sliding contact with bonded abrasives. These were conducted on silicon carbide, alumina and two sizes of garnet abrasive.The results indicate that the hardness, or type, of abrasive used in the test significantly influenced the wear rate of white irons, i.e. the rate of wear increased with increasing hardness of the abrasive. Also, the results indicate that the type of abrasive used in the test was a significant factor in ranking white irons for resistance to high stress abrasion. When tested on silicon carbide or alumina abrasive, as-cast austenitic irons exhibited lower rates of wear than heat treated martensitic irons; when tested on garnet, an abrasive of lower hardness, those irons with martensitic matrix microstructures exhibited the same or less wear than irons with austenitic matrix microstructures. It was also evident that heat treated irons with martensitic matrix microstructures exhibited varying degrees of resistance to abrasive wear depending on cooling rates and alloy content.     

The wear behaviour of high-chromium white cast irons as a function of silicon and Mischmetal content

The sliding wear behaviour of high-chromium white cast iron (16.8% Cr) has been examined as a function of silicon and Mischmetal alloy additions (1, 2, 3 and 5% Si and 0.1 and 0.3% Mischmetal). Such additions are known to modify the structure, but there is considerable controversy as to the exact effect. Silicon was found to refine the dendritic structure and increased the eutectic carbide volume fraction. However, for contents above 3%, transformation of the austenitic matrix to pearlite occurred in preference to martensite. Mischmetal additions reduced the austenite dendrite arm spacing, but did not have a significant effect on the carbide structure. The wear behaviour was investigated for each alloy in the as-cast (austenitic matrix) and hardened (martensitic) conditions using a block on ring configuration in pure sliding in the load range 42–238 N for a distance of 70 km against a hardened M2 steel counterface. For low loads (42 and 91 N), all the alloys showed a similar wear rate (3×10⁻⁴ to 4×10⁻⁴ mm³/m), associated with the formation of a thin (3 μm) oxide film of Fe₂O₃, the formation of very fine debris and a small depth of deformation below the worn surface (7 μm). For higher loads, wear was a strong function of microstructure, and was associated with a thicker film of the oxides Fe₂O₃ and Fe₃O₄ and greater depths of deformation. The iron with 2% silicon exhibited the best performance with a wear rate of 7×10⁻⁴ mm³/m and this was attributed to its finer structure and the formation of a thicker oxide film. In contrast, the iron with 5% silicon exhibited the worst performance, with a wear rate of 14×10⁻⁴ mm³/m, attributed to the pearlitic matrix. A linear relationship was observed between the depth of carbide fracture and the wear rate. The relationship between microstructure and wear mechanism is discussed.     

Abrasive wear resistance of spheroidal vanadium carbide cast irons

The effect of the chemical composition and heat treatment on the microstructure and abrasive wear resistance of V-Mn, V-Ni-Cr, and V-Mo spheroidal vanadium carbide cast irons (18–23 vol %) has been studied. The wear resistance has been determined under conditions of wear by abrasives with various hardnesses, i.e., corundum and quartz and compared to that of high-chromium cast iron with 13% Cr. It has been found that the advisability of using high-vanadium cast irons is governed by the hardness of the abrasive. When a hard abrasive, i.e., corundum was used, V-Mo cast iron with the maximum concentration of spheroidal VC carbides, which were uniformly distributed in the martensitic matrix, had the highest wear resistance. When a soft abrasive, i.e., quartz, was applied, high-chromium cast iron with a hardness of 68 HRC, which contained the largest amount of M₇C₃ carbides, was more wear-resistant. In the course of isothermal exposure at 300–1000°C, V-Ni-Cr and V-Mo cast irons with an austenitic structure had high resistance to phase and structural transformations. However, the properties and microstructure of V-Mo cast irons with a martensitic matrix depended strongly on the temperature of exposure during heat treatment.     

Solidification and abrasion wear of white cast irons alloyed with 20% carbide forming elements

Three different white cast irons with compositions of Fe–3%C–10%Cr–5%Mo–5%W (alloy no. 1), Fe–3%C–10%V–5%Mo–5%W (alloy no. 2) and Fe–3.5%C–17%Cr–3%V (alloy no. 3) were prepared in order to study their solidification and abrasion wear behaviors. Melts were super-heated to 1873 K in a high frequency induction furnace, and poured at 1823 K into Y-block pepset molds. The solidification sequence of these alloys was investigated. The solidification structures of the specimens were found to consist of austenite dendrite (γ); (γ+M₇C₃) eutectic and (γ+M₆C) eutectic in the alloy no. 1; proeutectic MC; austenite dendrite (γ); (γ+MC) eutectic and (γ+M₂C) eutectic in the alloy no. 2, and proeutectic M₇C₃ and (γ+M₇C₃) eutectic in the alloy no. 3, respectively.

A scratching type abrasion test was carried out in the states of as-cast (AS), homogenized (AH), air-hardened (AHF) and tempered (AHFT) using the abrasive paper with 120 mesh SiC and 10 N application load. In all the specimens, the abrasion wear loss was found to decrease in the order of AH, AS, AHFT and AHF states. Abrasion wear loss was lowest in the specimen no. 2 and highest in the specimen no. 1 except for the as-cast and homogenized states in which the specimen no. 3 showed the highest abrasion wear loss. The lowest abrasion wear loss of the specimen no. 2 could be attributed to the fact that it contained proeutectic MC carbide, eutectic MC and M₂C carbides having extremely high hardness. The matrix of each specimen was fully pearlitic in the as-cast state but it was transformed by heat-treatments to martensite, tempered martensite and austenite. From these results, it becomes clear that MC carbide is a significant phase to improve the abrasion wear resistance of white cast iron.     

Abrasive wear study of white cast iron with different solidification rates

The abrasive wear resistance of white cast iron was studied. The iron was solidified using two solidification rates of 1.5 and 15 °C/s. Mass loss was evaluated with tests of the type pin on abrasive disc using alumina of different sizes. Two matrices were tested: one predominantly austenitic and the other predominantly martensitic, containing M₃C carbides. Samples with cooling rate of 15 °C/s showed higher hardness and more refined microstructure compared with those solidified at 1.5 °C/s. During the test, the movement of successive abrasives gave rise to the strain hardening of the austenite phase, leading to the attainment of similar levels of surface hardness, which explains why the wear rate showed no difference compared to the austenite samples with different solidification rates. For the austenitic matrix the wear rate seems to depend on the hardness of the worn surface and not on the hardness of the material without deformation. The austenitic samples showed cracking and fracture of M₃C carbides. For the predominantly martensitic matrix, the wear rate was higher at the solidification rate of 1.5 °C/s, for grain size of 66 and 93 μm. Higher abrasive sizes were found to produce greater penetration and strain hardening of austenitic matrices. However, martensitic iron produces more microcutting, increasing the wear rate of the material. The analysis of the worn surface by scanning electron microscopy indicated abrasive wear mechanisms such as: microcutting, microfatigue and microploughing. Yet, for the iron of austenitic matrix, the microploughing mechanism was more severe.     

Untersuchungen über die beeinflussung des gefüges karbidischer gusseisen bei abrasiver verschleissbean-spruchung

In this paper the mechanism of abrasive wear of white cast irons is examined on the microstructural scale. The Fe-C-Cr-Mo, Fe-C-Cr-Ni and Fe-C-V-Cr alloys were tested. The results of the test have shown that abrasive wear of white cast iron is the result of wear of the microstructural components. Under high-stress abrasion the carbide can be deformed, scratched, broken and uprooted. The matrix shows cutting and deformation work hardening and martensitic transformation. The abrasion behaviour of alloys with different microstructural matrices is markedly influenced by mechanisms of wear. During abrasion the austenitic matrix can undergo the form, the hardness, the kinetic energy and the pressure of abrasive particles.     

Wear Mechanisms on Martensitic Steels Generated by Different Rock Types in Two-Body Conditions

The main purpose of this work is to identify and describe complex wear mechanisms that usually occur in the mining environment. Abrasive conditions can differ a lot, especially in the mining industry. Therefore, the need to study the influence of abrasion conditions on the material wear is crucial in order to improve the lifetime and the cost efficiency of the machinery used in such environments. To study various abrasion mechanisms, a cyclic impact abrasion test was used to simulate two-body impact/abrasion. The tests were performed using two martensitic steels, and three different standard rock types of the mining environment were chosen as abrasives, respectively. The wear was indicated as mass loss by measuring the samples before and after the tests. On the other hand, the particle breakage index, which indicates the potential of a rock to wear, was observed by sieving the abrasives before and after the test. The wear results were correlated with different mechanical rock properties. Wear mechanisms were observed using microscopic investigations. The results indicate that different abrasive rock types have a significant influence on the wear rate of the tested martensitic steels. It was observed that by combining different rocks as abrasives, a simulation of the real field was achieved.     

The particle size effect on abrasive wear of high-chromium white cast iron mill balls

Granite grinding tests, under dry and wet conditions, were performed to assess the influence of abrasive particle size to the wear behavior of martensitic high-chromium white cast iron mill balls. The tests were performed, at first, using raw granite particle sizes between 0.074 and 19.1 mm, and then with coarse and fine granite fractions obtained after screening the raw granite in a 3.36 mm sieve. It is demonstrated that the relative particle/ball size relationship is the determining parameter to ball wear. The highest ball wear rates were observed for fine granite grinding under dry (120 mg/cycle) and wet (129 mg/cycle) conditions. The lowest wear rate (ca. 50 mg/cycle) was observed for coarse granite grinding (dry and wet). These different results were attributed to the different size relationships between grinding body diameter and granite particles size. For wet-grinding of raw granite, the mineral components may influence significantly the wear behavior. Feldspar can act as a bonding agent, gluing fine quartz particles to the coarse granite and to the balls surface and turning the dependence of the relationship between the relative sizes of ball and granite particle less important to the wear process. This explains why wet-grinding of raw granite results in a ball wear two times greater (106 mg/cycle) than dry-grinding (51 mg/cycle).     

Microstructural aspects determining the adhesive wear of tool steels

In many machining applications, adhesion of the workpiece to the tool is a major problem. Adhesion may be reduced by changing the microstructure of the tool steel, e.g. by increasing the carbide content. The present work deals with the influence of some microstructural parameters in the adhesive wear of tool steels. The investigations were conducted using six model alloys based on the powder metallurgy high speed steel AISI M4, all of which had the same martensitic matrix composition after heat treatment. The alloys had MC carbide contents which varied between 0 and 25 mol% in 5 mol% increments. Ball-on-disc experiments were carried out in ambient air at room temperature using austenitic stainless steel and aluminum balls as counterfaces. Wear tracks on the disks were characterized using both a scanning electron microscope and an optical profiler. The results show that two main parameters determine the adhesive wear behavior: the carbide content and the distance between carbides.     

Slurry pump side-liner wear: comparison of some laboratory and field results

The current work compares some slurry pump lab wear results with the wear found across different field applications with d₈₅ particle size ranging from 100 to 4000 μm. Side-liner wear life data has been collected for two different impeller geometries and two different material classes (cast iron and natural rubber). Different field wear patterns have been photographed and categorised on the basis of particle size. The field wear patterns showed close similarity to the lab wear patterns particularly in the areas of localised gouging. Wear rates are also compared for the different geometries. Overall trend of wear with particle size for the white iron parts was similar to the grey iron lab tests albeit at significantly lower wear rates. In general, the wear with the rubber side-liner was less at smaller particle sizes but greater for particles larger than d₈₅ of about 700 μm.     

A metallurgical evaluation of tool wear and chip formation when machining pearlitic grey cast irons with dissimilar graphite morphologies

The need for superior in-service strength has meant that an increasing number of engineering components are now being made from pearlitic cast irons containing spheroidal graphite, rather than the more traditional cast irons containing flake graphite. Such changes of workpiece material have resulted in a rapid decline in tool life in many machining operations, particularly turning and facing.An investigation into the factors involved during chip formation which result in the observed patterns of tool wear is described in the work presented here. A series of turning tests were made on pearlitic grey cast irons containing flake (GA iron) and spheroidal (SG iron) graphite morphologies with cemented carbide (coated and uncoated) and ceramic tool materials. Built-up edge persisted to higher cutting speeds when cutting SG iron than GA iron, its periodic detachment causing attrition or fracture of the cutting edge. Smooth wear processes, probably caused by dissolution-diffusion and small strain discrete plastic deformation, were predominant on the rake and flank faces of the coated and ceramic tools when cutting both cast irons at high speed. Smooth wear was less rapid when cutting GA iron than SG iron because tool temperatures were reduced and “protective” nonmetallic layers, deposited from the chip-workpiece, interrupted dissolution-diffusion. When cutting SG iron, rapid wear of the uncoated cemented carbides was caused by attrition, while the relatively slower smooth wear, when cutting GA iron, was caused by dissolution-diffusion.     

Particle erosion of cemented carbides with low Co content

Cemented carbides are well known for their high erosion resistance and are therefore used in many demanding applications involving erosion, such as grit blasting nozzles. A number of investigations on the erosive wear resistance of conventional cemented carbides have been published. The present paper is aimed at investigating the erosion resistance of a series of modern cemented carbides containing no or very small amounts of Co, so-called binderless carbides, and relating their performance to conventional sorts.

A series of binderless carbides with varying grain size (0.6, 2 and 5 μm) and binder content (0.25 and 1 wt.%) has been tested. The materials were eroded by SiC particles of three sizes (80, 200 and 600 μm) from four angles (90, 70, 50 and 30°) with a velocity of 70 m/s. Three conventional WC-Co grades of corresponding grain sizes were also tested, under identical test conditions.

The materials are ranked with respect to their erosion rate and scanning electron microscopy is used to analyse the worn surfaces. The influence of carbide grain size and binder amount on the wear behaviour is discussed.     

Wear of steel in rolling contact with silicon nitride

Wear of steel (AISI M-50 and AISI 52100) bearing balls in lubricated rolling contact with ground and ground-and-lapped silicon nitride rods was studied using a ball-on-rod rolling-contact-fatigue (RCF) tester. The steel balls suffered significant wear in rolling contact with the as-ground (R_a = 0.18 μm) silicon nitride rods. The wear volume loss was approximately linear with the rolling distance. The wear rate increased linearly with the initial Hertzian contact stress in the range, 3–6.5 GPa. Examination of the wear tracks in a scanning electron microscope revealed surface features that suggested a wear mechanism that involved plastic deformation of the steel surface, squeezing of the metal symmetrically outward and rupture of the metal layers at the edges. The steel balls suffered negligible wear but failed by spalling in rolling contact with the ground-and-lapped silicon nitride rods (R_a = 0.08 μm) at an initial contact stress of 5.5 GPa. The as-ground silicon nitride rods exhibited neither wear nor spalling in the RCF tests, while the ground-and-lapped silicon nitride rods showed no wear but occasional spalling failure.     

Wear of cast chromium steels with TiC reinforcement

Wear resistance of a series of new titanium carbide reinforced cast chromium steels was investigated under various wear conditions. The steels which were melted in a vacuum induction furnace contained 12 Cr, 3–5 Ti, 1–2 C in weight percent. Microstructure of these materials was characterized using scanning electron microscopy, light optical microscopy, and X-ray diffraction. Microstructure of steels consisted of TiC phase dispersed in a martensitic matrix. High-stress and low-stress abrasion tests, and an erosion test, were utilized to understand the wear behavior of these materials under different environments. The steels were tested in as-cast and heat treated conditions. Wear rates of the cast Cr/TiC steels were compared to those of an AISI type 440C steel and P/M composites reinforced with TiC.     

Dry sliding wear of fly ash particle reinforced A356 Al composites

In the present study aluminium alloy (A356) composites containing 6 and 12 vol. % of fly ash particles have been fabricated. The dry sliding wear behaviour of unreinforced alloy and composites are studied using Pin-On-Disc machine at a load of 10, 20, 50, 65 and 80 N at a constant sliding velocity of 1 m/s. Results show that the dry sliding wear resistance of Al-fly ash composite is almost similar to that of Al₂O₃ and SiC reinforced Al-alloy. Composites exhibit better wear resistance compared to unreinforced alloy up to a load of 80 N. Fly ash particle size and its volume fraction significantly affect the wear and friction properties of composites. Microscopic examination of the worn surfaces, subsurfaces and debris has been done. At high loads (>50 N), where fly ash particles act as load bearing constituents, the wear resistance of A356 Al alloy reinforced with narrow size range (53–106 μm) fly ash particles were superior to that of the composite having the same volume fraction of particles in the wide size range (0.5–400 μm).     

Sliding wear of graphite crystallized chromium white cast iron

The effects of sliding velocity, heat-treatment and graphite shape on sliding wear of graphite crystallized chromium white cast iron were studied. Two types of graphite crystallized chromium white cast irons having flaky or spheroidal and another type of 2.6C–15Cr white cast iron were prepared for this study. The effect of sliding velocity on wear resistance was studied by the Okoshi type and pin-on-disk type wear tests on materials which have experienced “as cast” and “heat-treated” conditions. The Okoshi type wear test results are divided into two relationships depending on sliding velocity or distance. Two regimes, initial wear and steady-state wear, existed for wear loss and sliding distance. A characteristic form of wear curve with a peak and a minimum was obtained when correlating wear loss and sliding velocity. The wear resistance of graphite crystallized chromium white cast irons were superior to that of 2.6C–15Cr white cast iron. In the results of pin-on-disk tests, there was no clear difference in the reported wear loss and friction coefficient among the alloys. However, an opposite tendency has appeared in the wear loss and friction coefficient: the wear loss value reached a peak in the wear curve at 0.52 m/s, while the friction coefficient reached a minimum at 0.52 m/s.     

Structural and tribological characterization of tungsten nitride coatings at elevated temperature

Transition metal nitrides exhibit excellent mechanical properties (hardness and Young's modulus), high melting point, good chemical stability and high electrical conductivity. However, tungsten nitrides still stand aside of the main attention. In our previous study, tungsten nitride coatings with different nitrogen content showed excellent wear resistance at room temperature. Nevertheless, many engineering applications require good tribological properties at elevated temperature. Thus, the present study is focused on the tribological behaviour (friction coefficient and wear rate) of tungsten nitride coatings at temperature up to 600 °C.

The structure, hardness, friction and wear of tungsten nitride coatings with nitrogen content in the range 30–58 at.% prepared by dc reactive magnetron sputtering were investigated. The tribological tests were performed on a pin-on-disc tribometer in terrestrial atmosphere with Al₂O₃ balls as sliding partner. The coating wear rate was negligible up to 200 °C exhibiting a decreasing tendency; however, the wear dramatically increased at higher temperatures. The coating peeled off after the test at 600 °C, which is connected with the oxidation of the coating.     

Widerstand gegen abrasiven verschleiss und dynamische bruchzähigkeit weisser vanadingusseisen

The wear behaviour under abrasive sliding loading, the structure and dynamic fracture toughness of white cast iron containing (4 – 6)% V are considered in this paper. In wear systems containing hard abrasive particles (silicon carbide), the dynamic fracture toughness and wear resistance increase with increasing austenite content in the structure. In systems with less hard abrasive particles (e.g. flint, garnet) these alloys exhibit a combination of high fracture toughness and high wear resistance. The vanadium-alloyed white cast irons with a predominantly austenitic matrix show more favourable values with respect to both dynamic fracture toughness and wear resistance in comparison with a simultaneously tested chromium white cast iron.     

The wear of ultrafine WC–Co hard metals

The wear performance of ultrafine-grained tungsten carbide–cobalt (WC–Co) hard metals during three-body abrasion and particle erosion has been evaluated and compared to that of similar conventional coarser grained hard metals. The tungsten carbide grain size varied between 0.5 and 3 μm with cobalt contents ranging from 6 to 15%. Silica particles were used in both forms of testing. Erosion was carried out at 60 ms⁻¹ at an impact angle of 75° and abrasion at a velocity of 0.5 ms⁻¹ and a load of 50 N.

The wear resistance of the ultrafine grades was found to be at least double that of the closest conventional fine grained hard metals. These increases in wear performance are considerably higher than any corresponding increase in hardness which is, at most, 25% and is not achieved at the expense of fracture toughness which is maintained at a similar level to that of conventional fine grained hard metals. The increase in wear resistance coincides with a change in the mechanism of material removal. Sub-micron materials experience ductile deformation and bulk removal of material whilst coarser grades display more localised response with extensive fragmentation of the WC grains.     

Tribological behavior of select MAX phases against Al2O3 at elevated temperatures

The layered M_n+1AC_n ternary carbides – MAX phases – Ta₂AlC, Ti₂AlC, Cr₂AlC and Ti₃SiC₂ were tested under dry sliding conditions against alumina at 550 °C and 3 N load (for a stress of ≈0.08 MPa) using a pin-on-disk tribometer. Ta₂AlC and Ti₂AlC exhibited low specific wear rates, SWRs, (≤1 × 10⁻⁶ mm³/N m), while the coefficients of friction, μ, were 0.9 and 0.6, respectively. At 0.4, μ of Ti₃SiC₂ was the lowest measured, but the SWR, at ≈2 × 10⁻⁴ mm³/N m, was high. With a μ of 0.44 and a SWR of 6 × 10⁻⁵ mm³/N m the Cr₂AlC sample was in between. No visible wear of Al₂O₃ counterparts was observed in all the tribocouples. Tribofilms, which were mainly comprised of X-ray amorphous oxides of the M and A elements and, in some cases, unoxidized grains of the corresponding MAX phases, were formed on the contact surfaces. The correlations between observed tribological properties and tribofilm characteristics are discussed.