Study on manufacturing and wear resistance of WC reinforced Fe-2Cu-2Ni-1Mo-1C powder metallurgy steel

Abstract

In order to improve the wear resistance of iron base composite materials, WCp reinforced Fe-2Cu-2Ni-1Mo-1C powder metallurgy steels are prepared by high energy milling and spark plasma sintering. The phase composition, microstructure and wear surface morphology of the sintered specimens are analyzed by using X-ray diffraction(XRD), optical microscope(OM), scanning electron microscope(SEM), etc. Also, the wear performance and wear mechanism of the sintered specimens are studied. The results indicate that the microstructure of the sintered specimens mainly consists of pearlite, austenite and WC particles. With the increase of WC content, the austenite content also increases in the microstructure of the sintered specimen and the pearlite content decreases. Both the average friction coefficient and abrasion loss of the specimens decrease with the increase of WCp content, but an excess of WCp additive is not beneficial to them. The specimen containing 15% WC additive shows a better wear resistance property, with density of 8.46 g/cm3 and hardness of 58.2 HRC. The average friction coefficient and abrasion loss of the specimen is reduced by 18% and 97% respectively, in contrast to that of the specimens without WC particles. The main wear mechanism is adhesive wear, accompanying abrasive wear. © 2013 Journal of Mechanical Engineering.