Increasing the wear resistance of railway switches with boron coating and analysis of tribological performance by ANOVA method

In this study, the metallographic structure and wear behaviour of boron-coated rail steels were investigated. For this purpose, the wear behaviour of boronized rail steels was examined under two different load and sliding speed conditions. According to the results, the thickness and hardness values of the boride layer increased with increasing boronizing temperature. The hardness of the rail steel, initially similar to 300 HV, reached the value of 1886, 2145 and 2590 HV at 700-800-900 degrees C, respectively. When the wear behaviour of the boronized rail steel was analyzed, a considerable increase in wear resistance was achieved compared to the untreated sample. Topo-graphic images showed that boronized samples have a smoother surface form, while untreated samples have deep valleys and intense fluctuations.