A wear and corrosion resistant α-ferrite toughened Fe9Cr9Si2 ternary intermetallic alloy

Mechanical moving components working under corrosion or elevated temperature aggressive service conditions demand tribological materials having excellent combinations of wear and corrosion resistance. Most conventional high-performance wear resistant materials such as high Cr cast irons lack adequate corrosion resistance, while most corrosion resistant materials such as stainless steels are poor in resisting wear. In this paper, a novel α-ferrite toughened Fe9Cr9Si2 wear and corrosion resistant ternary intermetallic alloy was developed with a microstructure consisting of small amount of dispersive α particles well distributed in the continuous matrix of Fe9Cr9Si2 (referred as α/Fe9Cr9Si2 alloy). Corrosion properties were evaluated using the anodic polarization methods in H2SO4 and NaCl water solutions. Wear resistance was tested under room-temperature block-on-wheel dry sliding wear test conditions. Due to the unique chemical composition of both the Cr and Si highly alloyed α and the σ-phase Fe9Cr9Si2, the α/Fe9Cr9Si2 alloy exhibited outstanding corrosion resistance. Due to the excellent combination of high hardness and the strong covalent-dominant atomic bonds of σ-Fe9Cr9Si2, the excellent toughness and ductility of α and the unique chemical composition induced oxidation wear, the α-toughened Fe9Cr9Si2 σ-based alloy exhibited outstanding dry sliding wear resistance.