The scratch and abrasive wear behaviour of a tempered martensitic construction steel and its dual phase variants

• The scratch resistance depends on both tempering temperature and working condition.
• FM and TM-300°C steels are the best for abrasion resistance at low and high load respectively.
• DP steel can yield a better combination of scratch/abrasion resistance and hardness.
• The strength coefficient K corresponds well with the resulting scratch resistance.
• The ASTM G65 test correlates well MPDI scratch response for mild work conditions.

An experimental investigation of the scratch and abrasive wear behaviour of a lean C–Mn construction steel in its tempered fully martensitic (TM) state is presented. The scratch resistance and the corresponding failure mechanisms as a function of the tempering temperature (200–500 °C) were evaluated using a multi-pass dual-indenter (MPDI) scratch test applying different loading conditions. Results show that the scratch resistance depends not only on the tempering temperature, but also on the load applied during scratching. The optimal tempering temperature depends on the applied load. For both low and high loading conditions, the dual phase (ferrite–martensite) variant with an optimised martensite volume fraction and morphology yields an even better combination of scratch/abrasion resistance and hardness. The scratch resistance at different loading conditions is linked to the strength coefficient K   in the Hollomon equation (σ=Kεnσ=Kεn). The scratch behaviour in the MPDI scratch test at a low load correlates quite well with the standard ASTM G65 multi-particle abrasion test.