Heat treatment effect on microstructure, hardness and wear resistance of Cr26 white cast iron

Abstract

High chromium cast iron(HCCI) is taken as material of coal water slurry pump impeller, but it is susceptible to produce serious abrasive wear and erosion wear because of souring of hard coal particles. The research on optimization of heat treatments to improve abrasive wear properties of HCCI is insufficient, so effect of heat treatments on the microstructure, hardness, toughness, and wear resistance of Cr26 HCCI is investigated to determine the optimal heat treatment process for HCCI. A series of heat treatments are employed. The microstructures of HCCI specimens are examined by using optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The hardness and impact fracture toughness of as-cast and heat treated specimens are measured. The wear tests are assessed by a Type M200 ring-on block wear tester. The results show the following: With increase of the quenching temperature from 950 °C to 1050 °C, the hardness of Cr26 HCCI increased to a certain value, kept for a time and then decreased. The optimal heat treatment process is 2 h quenching treatment at 1000 °C, followed by a subsequent 2 h tempering at 400 °C. The hardness of HCCI is related to the precipitation and redissolution of secondary carbides in the process of heat treatment. The subsequent tempering treatment would result in a slight decrease of hardness but increase of toughness. The wear resistance is much related to the “supporting” effect of the matrix and the “protective” effect of the hard carbide embedded in the matrix, and the wear resistance is further dependent on the hardness and the toughness of the matrix. This research can provide an important insight on developing an optimized heat treatment method to improve the wear resistance of HCCI.