Investigation of wear resistance and microstructure of a newly developed chromium and vanadium containing iron-based hardfacing alloy

Plasma transferred arc (PTA) welded Ni and Co-based alloys have gained high acceptance in many industrial applications for the wear protection of components. Recently, the cost of nickel and cobalt is rising drastically. This paper presents the development of a cost-effective high chromium and vanadium containing iron-based hardfacing alloy with high hardness and wear resistance. The welding processing of the alloy is carried out by PTA welding of atomized powders. Investigations on powder production as well as on weldability are presented. The coatings are metallographically studied by optical microscopy, SEM, EDX and micro-hardness measurements. The wear resistance properties of the coatings are examined using pin on disk, dry sand rubber wheel and Miller testing, the corrosion properties are determined by immersion corrosion tests. The newly developed iron-based alloy has nearly the same wear resistance as Ni-based alloys with fused tungsten carbides at a higher level of corrosion resistance and much lower cost.