FACTORS INFLUENCING THE WEAR BEHAVIOR OF PM STEELS

A review was made on the research progress of wear behavior of PM steels in recent years. Wear is not an intrinsic property of PM steels, which is strongly influenced by the wear test conditions. However many other factors that determine the mechanical properties of PM steels also affect the wear behavior. Porosity has different effects on the wear of PM steels depending on the application conditions. Under dry sliding condition, higher porosity results in lower wear resistance. The influence of microstructures on wear resistance was in the order: carbide, martensite, bainite and lamellar pearlite. The wear resistance increases with hardness, but this relationship changes with the porosity and microstructures of PM steels.