Wear performance of modified H-13 and H418E steels for TBM disc cutter ring

Abstract

The wear failure of disc cutter rings is a crucial factor affecting the efficiency of TBM construction. At present, many tool manufacturers improve the content of the elements of the cutter ring material to improve its wear resistance and reduce the number of cutter changes. However, the enhancement of wear resistance by adjusting the elemental content in the cutter ring material relies mainly on experience, and the results can only be verified by improvements in macroscopic properties such as hardness and toughness. In contrast, the reason for the wear resistance improvement is unclear. Therefore, this study carried out scaled-down cutter ring and rock wear experiments, compares the wear behavior of the modified cutter ring material based on H13 steel, and analyzes the reasons for the improved wear resistance of the modified material by metallography and XRD. The result is obtained as follows: (1) Ni-H13 and H418E have better wear resistance than Modified H13, H418E has better abrasion resistance with a 34.9 % reduction in wear rate. (2) The wear mechanisms of Ni-H13 and H418E cutter ring samples were both micro-cutting and furrow wear. A few microscopic fracture wear mechanisms appeared in the Ni-H13 cutter ring. (3) The increased carbide content in H418E and its more refined and uniform tissue distribution are the main reasons for its excellent wear resistance. At the same time, the powder smelting material did not significantly improve the wear resistance of the cutter ring.