Effects of heat treatment and counterface on the wear behaviour of Cr21 cast iron

The unlubricated sliding wear test of high chromium white cast irons (HCCIs) was conducted using a pin-on-disc configuration under different heat treatments and different hardnesses of the counterface. With the increase of counterface hardness (20 HRC-47 HRC-54 HRC), the mass loss of the sample first increases then decreases. When the counterface hardness is 20 HRC, adhesion wear mainly takes place between the high chromium cast iron and the surface of 1045 steel. When the hardness is 47 or 54 HRC, first HCCI' matrix wear takes place, then carbide bump flakes under alternating stress. The mass loss of the counterface decreases with the increase of hardness for the same sample. The mass loss of quenching, once tempering and twice tempering sample decreases gradually for the same counterface hardness, but fluctuation of the samples' surface increased. The disc material is always softer than the pin material and results in a severe wear regime operation.