Wear behaviour of an FeAl intermetallic alloy containing carbon and titanium

• Ti addition to C containing B2 FeAl alloys results in formation of TiC and Fe3AlC0.5.
• Both carbides are formed by in-situ process thereby promoting carbide-matrix bonding.
• Presence of both carbides is found to lower the wear rate and coefficient of friction.
• Graphite when formed in localized regions reduces the wear resistance of FeAl alloys.

FeAl based alloys with carbon and titanium additions were prepared using arc induction melting and their effect on wear behaviour was investigated using ball-on-disk technique. The experimental results showed that carbon addition to FeAl alloys results in formation of perovskite-type Fe3AlC0.5 carbide phase and graphite. Addition of Ti promotes the formation of TiC and Fe3AlC0.5 and prevents the formation of graphite in the alloy. Hardness and wear resistance of FeAl based alloys increase with increase in the volume fraction of carbides. The FeAl alloys containing Ti exhibited low wear rate and coefficient of friction. Examination of wear tracks revealed micro ploughing at a lower load of 5N. Thin surface flakes with traces of their detachment were observed at a higher load of 10N. It was also observed that presence of graphite in localized regions reduce the wear resistance of the alloy. The results are correlated with observed microstructure and hardness.