Study of the wear resistance of Hypereutectic Fe-Cr-C Hardfacing Alloy reinforced with carbide particles

The microstructures and wear resistance of hypereutectic Fe-Cr-C hardfacing alloys reinforced with carbide particles was studied. The results showed that when the sizes of the M7C3 carbides were small, the wear resistance of the hardfacing alloy was considerably improved. During the wear process, the uniformly distributed small-sized carbides could also provide good support, and the uniform microstructure containing the fine M7C3 carbides could effectively reduce the force of the abrasive particles on the surface, evenly distribute the load, reduce the micro-cutting effect of the abrasive particles, and significantly improve the wear resistance of the hardfacing alloy. When the average size of the primary M7C3 carbides in the hardfacing alloy reached 0.5 mu m, since the total volume fraction of the carbides of different sizes in the hardfacing alloy were basically the same, the reduction of the carbide size could significantly increase the phase interface of the M7C3 carbide and austenite. This could promote the occurrence of the M7C3 -> M23C6 transformation, forming a two-phase composite structure with hard-core M7C3 carbide and soft-shell M23C6 carbide. This structure could reduce the interfacial stress between the M7C3 carbide and austenite and improve the spalling resistance of the carbides in the hardfacing alloy.