Study on relative wear resistance and wear stability of high-speed steel with high vanadium content

Abstract

In this work, a new concept of wear stability was put forward by authors, and it was quantitatively expressed by factor of wear stability. Different hardness, impact toughness and retained austenite content high-speed steel with high vanadium content samples were obtained by varying heat treatment conditions. The effects of hardness, impact toughness and retained austenite content on relatively wear resistance and wear stability were studied under abrasive wear condition. Results show that relative wear resistance increases with increasing hardness or decreasing impact toughness, whereas the wear stability rises with the increasing of hardness or impact toughness. The analyzing results reveal that mechanical behaviors are only apparent factors to influence wear behaviors. Relative wear resistance substantially depends on retained austenite content (Ar). At retained austenite content of about 30 vol.%, the relative wear resistance is optimal. However, wear stability is scarcely influenced by retained austenite content, which depends on the maximum changing amount of retained austenite under certain condition (ΔAr) in essence. With increasing ΔAr, wear stability linearly decreases.