Elevated temperature sliding wear behavior of WCP-reinforced ferrous matrix composites

Abstract

WCP-reinforced ferrous matrix composites were processed by direct addition of WCP (100–150 μm) and the melt of the matrix alloy to a rotating mold at 1000 rpm. Dry sliding wear behaviors of the composites containing about 80 vol.% of WCP and high-speed steel counterpart were investigated at room temperature and 400 °C against a rotating die steel ring. And wear experiments were performed under loads of 50, 100, and 150 N and a fixed sliding velocity of 30 m/s. Results show that at room temperature, both materials exhibited a marked increase in wear rate with load applied. Wear rates of the composites and high-speed steel under loads of 50, 100, and 150 N at room temperature achieved 1.61 × 10−6, 2.14 × 10−6, 3.56 × 10−6, and 3.11 × 10−6, 23.08 × 10−6, 57.39 × 10−6 g/m, respectively. At a testing temperature of 400 °C, the composites exhibited a marked increase in wear rates and high-speed steel exhibited mild wear (characterized by extremely low wear rates) over the range of loads considered in these experiments. Wear rates of both the composites and high-speed steel at 400 °C achieved 2.42 × 10−6, 5.19 × 10−6, 6.64 × 10−6, and 4.1 × 10−6, 8.92 × 10−6, 26.02 × 10−6 g/m, respectively, under different loads. Finally, the wear-mechanism was discussed in this article.