The formation of martensite during wear of AISI 304 stainless steel

Austenitic stainless steels are alloys with high corrosion resistance combined with high mechanical properties. However, the tribological property of the material is not sufficient and it suffers from wear and friction. In this paper, attempts have been made to evaluate the wear behavior of austenitic stainless steel, during sliding contacts. A pin-on-disk tribometer was employed to perform wear tests and in addition to wear, structural changes of AISI 304 stainless steel were investigated under wear condition. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction analysis were employed to study the structural changes during wear process. Study of worn surfaces indicated that depending on wear condition and applied load, different features of wear were involved, and during wear austenite transformed to martensite. The intensity of martensite peaks in X-ray pattern depends on the magnitude of the applied load.