Boronizing of cast martensitic chromium nickel stainless steel and its abrasion and cavitation-erosion behaviour

Abstract

Boronizing of steels has been very effectively used in overcoming adhesive, sliding and abrasive wear. However, little information is available on boronized cast chromium–nickel steel (13Cr–4Ni) with regard to cavitation-erosion and abrasion resistance as well as their effect on mechanical properties. In this paper, the cavitation-erosion characteristics along with abrasive wear of boronized 13Cr–4Ni steel are studied in detail. Cavitation-erosion resistance was evaluated by using a rotating disc apparatus, whereas abrasive wear was studied as per ASTM G-65. These phenomena are being correlated with mechanical properties such as resilience and strain-energy. Drastic reduction in elongation and strain-energy of borided steel has resulted in poor cavitation-erosion resistance whereas improvement of the order of 300% was observed in abrasive wear resistance. All these results are being reported in this paper.