Tribological investigation of abrasion resistant steels with martensitic and retained austenitic microstructure in single- and multi–asperity contact

Steel making companies are developing new steels with complex microstructure to satisfy abrasion resistance issues. Three newly developed steels (fresh martensitic, tempered martensitic and a TRIP steel) were investigated under single and multi-asperity abrasion test conditions. Abrasive performance was linked to material properties. In the multi-asperity test, increasing the normal load and abrasive particle size resulted in increasing mass loss and in transition in micro-mechanisms from ploughing to micro-cutting. Martensitic materials showed better wear performance due to their higher hardness. As a result of the abrasive action a newly formed tribo-layer was observed in the contact zone of all steel specimen. In the single asperity testing a diamond spherical indenter was used with different normal loads. Wear micro-mechanisms were analysed during the scratching using optical microscopy and 3D-profilometry. The fresh and tempered martensitic steels showed a transition in micro mechanism from micro-ploughing to micro-cutting at higher loads and smaller tip radius. For the multiphase steel with retained austenite, despite its TRansformation Induced Plasticity effect, micro-cutting was reached already at lower loads. The tempered martensitic material outperformed the fresh martensitic material despite the similar hardness and microstructure. For all materials single-asperity test data showed similar ranking in abrasion wear resistance as in the multi-asperity test.

Jaar van publicatie:2021

Toegankelijkheid:Closed