Abstract
This paper reports results obtained in research conducted to evaluate the use of wheel loader bucket tips produced in ductile iron and austempered ductile iron (ADI), that has been processed at intermediate and low austempering temperatures. Actual service performance trials were carried out, which were correlated with ASTM G65 wear tests data and microstructural characterization. The results obtained confirmed that ADI had excellent abrasion resistance for the intended operating conditions. ASTM G65 laboratory tests were carried out in order to evaluate the materials in a different tribosystem. Under laboratory wear conditions, the reference material showed higher wear resistance than ADI. The presence of a metastable and ductile ausferrite phase (reacted and unreacted austenite+ferrite) in the ADI microstructure appears to be an important influence on the observed performance. X-ray diffraction analysis, show that a small fraction of austenite transforms into martensite due to strains imposed in service.
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