Abstract
High alloy white cast irons (WCI) play an important role in many industrial fields such as mining, cement industry, or grinding due to their high hardness and wear resistance. In all these processes, white cast iron components must work under erosion and abrasion conditions. Many investigations have been carried out with the aim of improving the mechanical properties of this type of alloys. Wear resistance depends on the mechanical properties, mainly hardness. Thus, the WCI are typically heat treated in order to modify its microstructure, improving its tribological and wear behavior. The aim of this study is to propose a mechanical surface treatment, shot peening, as an alternative to global heat treatments, due to its capacity to induce phase transformation and microstructural modification, at the same time that it improves the mechanical properties of materials. Characterization of different treated samples was performed by means of microstructural characterization, X-ray diffraction analysis, SEM observation, hardness and roughness measurements, and erosion tests. The results show that shot peening treatment is able to transform residual austenite and increase hardness in the top surface layer of the material. Both effects contribute to improve the erosion wear behavior of the WCI.
Highlights
Cast irons have been used in industrial applications for several decades
In order to support the aforementioned microstructural observations and to quantify phase changes caused by the different treatments, X-ray diffraction analysis was performed on the surface of the samples by means of a Seifert XRD 3000 T/T diffractometer (Seifert, Massillon, OH, USA)
The results show that the 18%-white cast irons (WCI)-shot peening (SP) series presents the best erosion wear behavior
Summary
Cast irons have been used in industrial applications for several decades. This kind of materials were discovered in 1940 [1] and are defined as an iron alloy with a carbon content from 2.11% to 6.67%. Kc (M3 C) (1200–1600 HV) [19], which confer better wear resistance to the material in comparison with cast iron with less amount of chromium In this case, the constituent matrix does not contain this kind of secondary carbides [20,21,22,23]. It is possible to obtain a material with a reinforced upper layer that can be useful for applications where surface hardness is required The effect of this surface treatment will be compared with the effect of global heat treatments in terms of microstructure, phase composition (XRD analysis), hardness, and wear resistance, by means of erosion tests
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