Correlation between abrasive wear resistance and changes in structure and residual stresses of steels

The connection between the structure and abrasive wear resistance of steels was studied. Samples of AISI 1020, 1040 and 1080 steels were tested. The initial hardness of the samples ranged from HV221 – for annealed steel AISI 1020, to HV868 – for water quenched and tempered at 180°C steel AISI 1080. Two‐body abrasive tests on silicon carbide abrasive paper of grit size 1200–240 were carried out on a friction machine under identical conditions for all specimens. X‐ray studies of the specimens were conducted before and after these tests. It was shown that characteristics such as the integral width of diffraction lines could be used as a universal indicator of abrasive wear resistance for steels, independently of their heat treatment. The compressive residual stresses in the surface layers of the steels were observed. The results showed that there is a correlation between abrasive wear resistance and the sign and magnitude of residual stresses in the surface layers of steels, as well as between abrasive wear resistance and the structural changes in these layers. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.