Surface deformation of steels in impact-abrasion: The effect of sample angle and test duration

Wear causes both significant economic and environmental losses by shortening the service life of machinery. Earthmoving machinery is an example of machinery subjected to heavy wear in extreme conditions, where materials suffer from both impacts and scratching by the abrasives. In this work, we have determined the wear surface deformation of four impact-abraded steels to reveal the possible differences between materials and impact conditions. The tested materials include a structural steel and three wear resistant steels with different microstructures. The tests were conducted with impeller-tumbler wear testing equipment. The duration of the tests and the sample angle varied. The longer test duration decreased the relative amount of wear in the harder samples. The sample angle did not have a distinct effect on the wear surfaces in the center areas of the samples. In the edges, however, the larger sample angle caused more wear. Despite some microstructural differences, the correlation between higher hardness and decreased wear was linear in the steady-state wear. The ferrite grains and retained austenite in the martensitic matrix of the 650HB steel had only a small effect on the overall impact-abrasion wear resistance of the material when compared to steels with a fully martensitic microstructure.

► Impeller–tumbler equipment was used to test impact-abrasion wear of steels.
► Sample angle change from 60 to 90° resulted in small differences in wear surfaces.
► Wear decreased with increasing hardness at studied sample angles and microstructures.
► Longer test duration decreased the relative wear of the harder steels.
► Ferrite promoted deformation of the martensite matrix around the ferrite grains.