Sliding abrasive wear characteristics of steels with different hardness

The tests were carried out on a reciprocating wear testing machine with SiC abrasive particles matched with the steels. It was found that the steels surface hardness is the dominant factor for their wear-resistance. When the hardness is higher than 734HV, the wear resistance is very sensitive to the hardness, and vice-versa. For example, when the hardness is increased from 734HV to 830HV, the wear-resistance can be improved about 100% with micro-cutting as the wear mechanism and with a little increase in the roughness of wearing surface; when the hardness is increased from 317HV to 734HV, the wear-resistance is improved only about 50% with micro-cutting as the main wear mechanism accompanied with delamination induced by strain fatigue. Hence a higher surface hardness of steels is the key point for getting an ideal lifetime in many industrial applications.