The influence of boron on the resistance to abrasion of quenched low-alloy steels

Abstract

The paper attempts to determine the influence of boron in the presence of chromium, vanadium and titanium on abrasion resistance and wear mechanisms using low-alloy steels as an example. The obtained tribological properties were correlated with the hardness, carbon content and prior austenite grain size. Tribological tests – the dry sand-rubber wheel test – were conducted in the presence of loose abradant, and the major wear mechanisms were then determined using scanning electron microscopy. The results indicate that the improvement of resistance to abrasion may be supported by the combined addition of chromium, boron and vanadium. For unalloyed or chromium steels, a micro-addition of boron provides no benefits in terms of improving tribological properties.