Wear Property and Wear Mechanisms of High-Manganese Austenitic Hadfield Steel in Dry Reciprocal Sliding

Quanshun Luo,Jingzhi Zhu

doi:10.3390/lubricants10030037

Abstract

This paper reports the sliding wear properties and wear mechanisms of Hadfield high-Mn austenitic steel in a dry-sliding reciprocal tribotest against a WC counterpart. The associated wear mechanisms were studied through extensive characterisation of the obtained worn surface using analytical SEM, TEM, XRD and micro-hardness test. The tribotest revealed a coefficient of wear in the scale of 10−14 m3·N−1·m−1 and a coefficient of friction of 0.5–0.6. The steel encountered severe plastic deformation beneath the worn surface leading to a gradient of hardness profile, including the extreme hardening of the worn surface up to HV0.1 8.2 GPa. Despite the severe deformation and significant strain hardening, the steel still retained its austenitic structure without any detectable martensite. The combined surface and cross-sectional microscopic observations and extensive analysis of XRD peak breadth revealed the formation of nano-heterogeneous microstructure including nano-laminate, nanotwins and nanocrystalline beneath the worn surface. Spalling wear was found as the predominant wear mechanism. The spalling wear was caused by the embrittlement of the extremely hardened and nanocrystallised worn surface. Tribo-oxidation was also observed in the resultant wear debris.

Highlights

Hadfield steel, a traditional grade of wear resistant steel being discovered by SirRobert Abbott Hadfield in 1882, is featured by high carbon and manganese contents in its chemical composition and by an austenising-quenching heat treatment to entitle the steel with high impact toughness and excellent work hardening capacity [1,2]
The wear properties of Hadfield steels as well as the associated strain hardening behaviours and wear mechanisms have been studied extensively the attention of these studies was mostly focused on the wear properties under severe loading conditions such as impact abrasive wear and high-stress rolling contact fatigue
We reported spalling wear of a medium-carbon alloy steel as a result of sliding-induced worn surface embrittlement [20]

Summary

Introduction

A traditional grade of wear resistant steel being discovered by SirRobert Abbott Hadfield in 1882, is featured by high carbon and manganese contents in its chemical composition and by an austenising-quenching heat treatment to entitle the steel with high impact toughness and excellent work hardening capacity [1,2]. The wear properties of Hadfield steels as well as the associated strain hardening behaviours and wear mechanisms have been studied extensively the attention of these studies was mostly focused on the wear properties under severe loading conditions such as impact abrasive wear and high-stress rolling contact fatigue. Lv and Cai reported the abrasive wear properties of austenitic high-Mn steels, respectively [7,8]. After jaw crusher testing of an austenitic Hadfield steel, Machado reported the formation of gradient microstructures as a sequence of dynamic nanocrystallisation in upper subsurface and severe twining deformation in further depth [9,10]. Harzallah reported that, rolling contact fatigue of Hadfield steel under a high Hertzian contact stress of 2.2 GPa resulted in extreme strain hardening to HV0.025 1000 and the associated spalling wear [5]

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