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This study presents the results of two-body abrasion tests on several high-carbon low-alloy steels initially consisting of a dual-phase microstructure containing metastable austenite and thermally induced plate martensite. The wear behavior of these metastable austenitic steels (MAS) is compared to commercial wear-resistant steels. Some tested MAS showed specific wear rates (SWR) that are more than three times lower compared to that of a martensitic 30MnB5 (1.5531) and an austenitic X120Mn12 (1.3401) steel and even more than five times lower than the SWR of Hardox 450. Pre- and post-wear hardness measurements indicate that low wear rates in MAS are related to hardness increase during wear. MAS with post-wear hardness in the range of 900 – 1000 HV achieved the lowest SWR. A further increased post-wear hardness up to 1250 HV proved to be not beneficial and led to an increasing SWR. XRD measurements show significant changes in the phase fractions of the MAS sub-surface region due to an austenite-martensite phase transformation. SEM micrographs also show severe plastic deformation in the sub-surface layer and the wear tracks.1.
Keywords: High-carbon steel, abrasive wear, austenite, martensite© This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.