Erosive–corrosive wear behaviour of Fe–TiC and cobalt based layers separately deposited on En31 steel

Abstract

Observations pertaining to the erosive–corrosive wear behaviour of samples of En31 steel hardfaced separately with Fe–TiC and a commercial cobalt based material are reported in the present investigation. Erosion–corrosion tests were carried out by the sample rotation technique in 3·5%NaCl solution for varying test durations of 8–32 h (corresponding traversal distances 136–544 km) at a fixed traversal speed of 4·71 m s−1. The effect of the hardfaced layer on the wear behaviour was assessed through testing one set of each of the hardfaced and substrate steel samples under identical test conditions. The wear rate increased initially with traversal distance, attained the maximum and decreased thereafter. In the case of the steel substrate, the wear rate increased once again towards the final stage of testing. Hardfaced layers exhibited substantially decreasing wear rate compared with the substrate. Moreover, the performance of the Fe–TiC composite layer was intermediate between those of the cobalt based hardfacing material and the substrate. The observed response of the samples has been substantiated through their affected surface and subsurface characteristics.