Ball-cratering abrasion tests with large abrasive particles

The application of a ball-cratering method to test three-body abrasive wear of bulk materials in the presence of large abrasive particles has been investigated. Four types of abrasive particles of different sharpness were used to make slurries: glass beads, silica sand, crushed quartz and alumina. All the particles were sieved to a size of 250–300 μm. Two common industrial materials, mild steel and 27% Cr white cast iron, were used as wear samples. Wear rates of metallic samples were determined and the worn surfaces were examined by optical microscopy, SEM and Talysurf profilometry.It was found that the surface roughness of the ball significantly affects the wear rates and the wear mechanisms of the metallic samples. The surface roughness of the ball steadily increased with testing time and was mainly affected by the angularity of abrasive particles. More angular particles generated higher ball surface roughness. It was found that the gradual increase in the ball surface roughness was responsible for non-linearity of wear rates with sliding time. The increasing depth of the wear craters also contributed to this non-linearity as deeper craters facilitate particle entrainment. Three-body rolling wear dominated when the ball was smooth and the contribution of two-body grooving wear increased with increasing the ball roughness. Softer mild steel samples were more affected by the ball roughness changes than the harder white cast iron samples. Wear surface morphology was also affected by the angularity of particles and by the material properties of wear samples. Particle fracture was found in all four groups of abrasives and the angularity of the particles was slightly altered. Therefore, the ball-cratering test, under the testing conditions used, can be considered as a high-stress abrasion test.     

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.     

Erosion–corrosion assessment of materials for use in the resources industry

The erosion–corrosion properties of a range of ferrous-based materials that are currently being used or have potential for use in the resources industry have been assessed using a slurry pot erosion–corrosion (SPEC) test rig that has the capability of establishing the separate components of erosion, corrosion and synergy.Testing was performed, at 30 °C, in an aqueous slurry containing 35 wt% AFS 50–70 silica sand and a 3.5 wt% NaCl solution. Erosive action was supplied through high-speed rotation of a rubber-lined impeller.Erosion–corrosion performance of materials evaluated was related to composition/microstructure and hardness. Test data correlated with available service experience.The results showed that the cast Cr white irons with (i) a structure that was essentially a duplex stainless steel containing a distribution of hard carbides and (ii) a near eutectic Cr white iron exhibited the highest erosion–corrosion resistance of the materials tested. The evaluation of the Cr white irons also highlighted the influence of Cr and C levels on the E–C properties of these materials.E–C assessment of selected carbon steels confirmed that the erosion-only rates and synergistic levels showed a general decline with increasing carbon content and hardness. As expected, a low C steel pipe product displayed very mediocre erosion–corrosion behaviour as a consequence of its very low intrinsic corrosion resistance and inferior wear properties. This reflected service experience, however, such products are still being used, due to the comparatively low initial cost.A TiC particle-reinforced AISI 316 stainless steel exhibited an almost 45% improvement in the E–C resistance, when compared with an AISI 316L stainless steel.     

U70MnSi和40Cr钢电火花表面强化层的组织与性能

采用硬质合金YG-8和焊条FW-1101作电极,在电火花表面强化器上强化了U70MnSi钢和40Cr钢的表面;用X射线衍射仪分析了强化层的结构,用滚动和滚、滑磨损试验研究了强化层的耐磨性,用阳极极化和浸泡试验研究了40Cr钢表面强化后的耐腐蚀性能。结果表明：强化层是由化合物和非晶组织组成的混合层;表面强化后试样的耐磨性明显提高;40Cr强化层的混合组织对耐腐蚀性能的影响超过了层中缺陷和残余应力的影响,使其耐腐蚀性能提高。     

Effects of Material Composition and Microstructural Features on Dry Sliding Wear Behaviour of Fe–TiC Composite and a Cobalt-Based Stellite

This investigation deals with the influence of hardfacing En31 steel separately with Fe–TiC composite and commercial cobalt base (stellite 6) material on their sliding wear behaviour at 2.94 m/s speed and varying applied pressures. Wear response of the samples was substantiated through the scanning electron microscopic studies of the wear surfaces, subsurface regions and debris particles. The hardfaced samples revealed superior wear performance than that of the substrate. Further, the steel hardfaced with cobalt-based stellite offered higher wear resistance over the one overlayed with Fe–TiC composite. The applied pressure controlled the wear behaviour (rate) in a complex manner and its influence was dependent on material composition/microconstituents and test conditions. The friction coefficient got reduced with pressure except in the case of the Fe–TiC composite overlay beyond 2 MPa. The hardfaced samples were noted to be better suited for more severe conditions. Microcracking was quite frequently observed on wear surfaces of the hardfaced material especially under mild wear conditions. Sticking of fine debris particles on to the specimen surface was also observed.     

Assessment of the erosion resistance of steels used for slurry handling and transport in mineral processing applications

The wear environment of steels used for containing, transporting and processing erosive mineral slurries is often such that fluid borne particles form a layer moving at high speed across the wearing surface. Information on the performance ranking of such materials is limited, particularly with respect to the influence of steel hardness and microstructure on the resistance to erosion. This is particularly important for the oil sands industry of Northern Alberta where handling and processing of essentially silica-based solids results in extremely severe wear conditions. This paper presents slurry erosion data obtained on 11 commercially available wear resistant plate and pipeline steels with hardness values up to 750 HV. These data were obtained using a Coriolis erosion tester operated at 5000 rpm with an aqueous slurry containing 10 wt.% of 200–300 μm silica sand particles.

The Coriolis erosion tester was selected because it provides a low-angle scouring action that simulates the erosive conditions encountered in oil sands and tailings pipeline transport and in some related processing operations. Results show that this test method is able to discriminate clearly between the erosion resistance of these steels, expressed in terms of specific energy (the energy necessary to remove unit volume of test material), with the most erosion resistant steel being more than five times superior to the least resistant. A graphical relation between steel hardness and erosion resistance is given. A comparison is also made between slurry erosion data and the performance of the materials in the ASTM G65 dry sand rubber wheel (DSRW) sliding abrasion test. Comments on the influence of the macro- and microstructures of the steels on their wear behaviour are included.     

Microstructure and Tribological Behavior of Laser in Situ Synthesized TiC-Reinforced Fe-Based Composite Coatings

Fe-based composite coatings reinforced with TiC particles were prepared by laser surface engineering from precursor of ferrotitanium and graphite. Microstructure of the composite coatings was comprised of dendritic TiC dispersed in a ferrite matrix. In situ dendritic TiC was formed by mechanism of precipitating from the liquid Fe–Ti–C alloy system. Composite coatings showed a substantial increase in microhardness in comparison to that of the substrate. Dry sliding wear tests performed at room temperature revealed that the in situ composite coating possessed a considerably reduced wear volume loss owing to the presence of in situ synthesized TiC. A relatively smooth surface was observed for in situ TiC/Fe composite coating due to its high resistance to ploughing and adhesion, which is caused by the uniformly dispersed TiC reinforcement with high volume fraction.     

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.     

Corrosion-Wear Resistance and Interfacial Morphologies of Novel Fe–Cr–B Cast Steels in Molten Aluminum

In order to improve the corrosion–wear resistance properties of steels in molten aluminum, novel Fe–Cr–B cast steels with different boron concentrations were prepared. The steels were investigated at 750 °C for 0.5 h using a ring-block corrosion–wear test, and the interfacial morphologies were examined. Results showed that the corrosion–wear resistance of the Fe–Cr–B cast steel was three times that of H13, and benefited greatly from the effects of the primary Cr-rich Fe₂B, which bore the main load during the corrosion–wear test. The corrosion–wear behavior of the coarse primary Cr-rich Fe₂B in molten aluminum was clearly different from that in static molten aluminum.     

The effects of work material on tool wear

Wear maps showing the wear behaviour of titanium carbide (TiC)-coated cemented carbide tools during dry turning of various types of steel have been presented in earlier studies. The maps have demonstrated that tool wear rates vary with cutting speeds and feed rates used. They have also shown that there is a range of cutting conditions, called the safety zone, within which tool wear rates are the lowest. This paper further examines, using the wear mapping methodology, the effects of different grades of steel workpieces on the wear of TiC-coated carbide tools. Wear maps constructed for the machining of AISI 1045 and 4340 steels show that flank wear is generally more severe when machining the AISI 4340 grade, especially at high cutting speeds and feed rates. Nevertheless, the contour and location of the safety zone on the wear maps for both grades of steels correspond to that revealed in previous work on general steel grades.     

Dry sliding wear mechanism for P/M austenitic stainless steels and their composites containing Al2O3 and Y2O3 particles

Austenitic stainless steels are used in applications demanding general corrosion resistance at room or moderate operating temperatures. However, their use is often limited by the relative softness of these materials and their suceptibility to wear and galling. The present investigation deals with the dry sliding wear behaviour of two P/M austenitic stainless steels (AISI 304L and 316L) and their composites containing two different ceramic particles (Al₂O₃ and Y₂O₃) and two different sintering activators (BN and B₂Cr). Unlubricated pin-on-disc wear tests were carried out. Wear mechanisms were analysed by means of scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. A plastic deformation and particle detachment wear mechanism was revealed. Plasticity during sliding induced an austenite to martensite transformation. The presence of ceramic particles (Al₂O₃ and Y₂O₃) and sintering activators (B₂Cr, BN) improved significantly the wear resistance (especially the combination Al₂O₃ and B₂Cr). Ceramic particles limited plastic deformation while sintering activators decreased final porosity.     

Wear resistance of cast Fe–Cr–C steels with various combinations of structural constituents at high velocities of sliding

The positive effect of the additional alloying of cast Fe–Cr–C steels on the formation of a secondary structure in the steels and their tribological characteristics under boundary friction has been shown. This effect leads to a decrease in the wear rate of the cast steel 1.2–5.2 times compared to that of the commercial 95Kh18 steel depending on the alloying system of the steels.     

Effect of alloying additives on impact-abrasive wear of manual arc welded hadfield steel hardfacings

The results of studying the impact-abrasive wear of manual arc welded Hadfield steel hardfacings and this steel alloyed with Cr, Ni, Mo, B, Cu, and Si, both without and with coarse-grained tungsten carbide reinforcement, are presented. It has been found that under conditions of impactless wear the presence of the hardening phase in the Hadfield steel increases its wear by 40% on average compared to the wear of the base and alloyed Hadfield steels. With an increase in the impact energy from 2.8 to 5.6 J, the wear of the reinforced Hadfield steels decreases and becomes comparable with the wear of the base and alloyed Hadfield steels. Under the conditions of erosion by coarse particles, layers of the Hadfield steel reinforced by tungsten carbide have slightly lower wear rate than unreinforced ones.     

Wear behavior of bainitic steels

A systematic study of the wear properties of a series of 0.5 wt.% Mo, 0.003 wt.% B bainitic steels has been made under dry sliding conditions. In contrast to most of the established wear models and experimental data, it was found that, for eight of the nine materials, the wear rate is not a linear function of load.The wear rate data have been analyzed with respect to chemical composition, hardness, monotonic-cyclic stress strain parameters, fatigue properties, Charpy impact data and microstructure. It is shown that the chromium content has the most significant influence on wear rate. Since these bainitic steels have inherently high impact resistance, which is improved with chromium additions, it is possible to achieve an attractive combination of properties with a steel containing 0.2 wt.% C, 2.0 wt.% Cr and 1.5 wt.% Mn.The wear resistance of the bainitic steels is compared with previous work on pearlitic steels tested under the same conditions. While the best pearlitic steels stand apart, it is seen that the best bainitic steel tested to date is better than some fully eutectoid steels containing 0.7 wt.% C.     

Friction and wear behaviour of sintered steels submitted to sliding and abrasion tests

Fe–C–Mo and Fe–C–Cr steels were sintered by PM processes carried out using different values of temperature and pressure, leading to different microstructures and density values. Flat specimens were submitted to tribological tests in order to evaluate their behaviour under both dry sliding and abrasive wear conditions. A flat-on-cylinder tribometer was used for the sliding tests, while a micro-scale ball cratering device was used for the abrasion tests. The dry sliding wear resistance of the PM steels was mainly influenced by the composition and sintering conditions. In this regard, the best behavior was observed for the more hardenable Fe–C–Mo steels with higher Mo content, sintered under conditions giving rise to bainitic microstructures. A determining role was also played by the porosity content and pore shape: reduction in porosity (obtained by increasing the sintering temperature and the compacting pressure), as well as an increase in pore roundness, led to a significant improvement in the resistance to sliding wear. A mild oxidative wear regime were observed for all the sintered steels under relatively low values of the applied load, while an increase of the applied load led to a delamination wear regime. The resistance to abrasive wear was low for all the tested steels, irrespective of composition and sintering cycle.     

Sliding speed-temperature wear transition maps for Si3N4/iron alloy couples

The superior high temperature resistance of silicon nitride (Si₃N₄) based ceramics makes them suitable for tribological applications above room temperature or in high speed unlubricated sliding. There are some published works on the wear behaviour of Si₃N₄/metal alloys. However, experimental data are shown in a form that is not of direct use for engineers involved in materials selection. In the present work, Si₃N₄ pins were tested against tool steel and grey cast iron on a pin-on-disc tribometer. Ceramics were produced by hot-pressing and tested without lubrication at variable temperature and sliding speed. SEM/EDS and XRD analysis were used for chemical and microstructural characterisation of worn surfaces and wear debris. At low speeds (0.05–0.5 m s⁻¹) and room temperature, Si₃N₄ surfaces are polished-like due to a combination of humidity-assisted tribo-oxidation and abrasive action of very fine wear debris. At high sliding speeds (2–3.5 m s⁻¹), as well as for temperatures in the range 400–600°C, an extensive coherent tribolayer mainly composed by iron oxides spreads over the ceramic surfaces. Polishing and protection by adherent tribolayers are the mechanisms responsible for observed severe and mild wear regimes, respectively. Wear maps are constructed showing the transition of wear regimes in Si₃N₄/iron alloys contacts determined by constant flash temperature curves. Equations for calculation of bulk and flash contact temperatures in tribocontacts between dissimilar materials are deduced.     

Adhesive wear of stir cast hypereutectic Al–Si–Mg alloy under reciprocating sliding conditions

This paper describes an attempt to enhance the wear properties of hypereutectic cast aluminium–silicon alloys produced by semi-solid metal (SSM) processing technique. The rheological experiments on SSM slurries were performed under continuous cooling condition from liquidus temperature. Wear characteristics of alloy under investigation were studied using pin on flat wear system over a range of normal load (10–40 N) at constant average sliding speed (0.2 m/s) against cast iron and stainless steel counter surface. Stir cast alloy showed lesser weight loss compared to conventional cast alloy. Stir cast and conventional cast alloys showed higher weight loss against the stainless steel as compared to that against cast iron counter surface. Optical microscopy of the conventional cast and stir cast hypereutectic alloy has shown that stir casting causes refinement of primary silicon particles and modification of eutectic silicon compared to conventional cast alloy. The scanning electron microscopy of wear surfaces was carried out to investigate the mode of wear.     

Sliding wear behavior of copper alloy contact wire against copper-based strip for high-speed electrified railways

This paper reports the study of the sliding wear behavior of the Cu–Ag–Cr wire. Cu–Ag–Cr alloy is a promising contact wire material for high-speed electrified railways, which has an excellent combination of mechanical strength and electrical conductivity. Wear tests were conducted under laboratory with a special sliding wear apparatus, which simulated the tribological conditions of sliding current collectors on overhead wires in the railway system. The Cu–Ag–Cr alloy wire was slid against a copper-based powder metallurgy strip under unlubricated conditions. The same strip as those in the train systems were used. Worn surfaces of the Cu–Ag–Cr alloy wire were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectrum (EDS). Within the studied range of electrical current, normal pressure and sliding speed, the wear rate increased with the increasing electrical current and the sliding distance. Compared with a Cu–Ag contact wire under the same conditions, the Cu–Ag–Cr alloy wire had much better wear resistance. Adhesive wear, abrasive wear and arc erosion were the dominant mechanisms during the electrical sliding processes.     

The corrosion wear behaviour of selected stainless steels in potash brine

Tests were conducted at 25 and 85 °C to evaluate the corrosion wear resistance of selected stainless steels in potash brine using a reciprocating motion wear apparatus. Four materials were tested: Ferralium 255 (UNS S32550), AL6XN (UNS N08367), 254SMO (UNS S31254) and AISI 1018 (UNS G10180) for comparative purposes. The evaluation methods employed included weight loss analysis, optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results show that Ferralium 255 has superior corrosion wear resistance in potash brine environment compared to AISI 1018 plain-carbon steel and the other stainless steels tested. Wear surface analysis using SEM shows evidence of brittle fracture damage, which is attributed to the presence of Cl⁻.     

Optimization and Effect of Weight Fraction of MoS2 on the Tribological Behavior of Mg-TiC-MoS2 Hybrid Composites

This investigation studies the dry sliding wear behavior of magnesium (Mg) matrix composites reinforced with titanium carbide (TiC) and molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) fabricated using a powder metallurgy technique. The effects of both TiC (0–10%) and MoS₂ (0–10%) content on the tribological properties are investigated. Wear tests are carried on magnesium reinforced with TiC and MoS₂ individually and together in different proportions, using a pin-on-disc apparatus under dry sliding condition. The experiments were made using a Taguchi L₂₇ orthogonal array with five factors at three levels. The wear resistance of the developed composites improved significantly compared to that of the magnesium matrix due to the effect offered by both reinforcements. Analysis of variance was used to verify the significance of factors influencing wear. In addition, the worn surfaces of the wear-tested specimens were examined using a scanning electron microscope coupled with energy-dispersive spectroscopy.