High speed pounding: A novel technique for the preparation of a thick surface layer with a hardness gradient distribution on Hadfield steel

A novel surface modifying technique, high speed pounding (HSP), has been developed to prepare a prehardened layer. By optimizing the HSP parameters an ideal prehardened layer 16 mm in depth, with a maximum surface hardness of ∼50 HRC and a gradual decrease in hardness from the surface to the matrix was successfully fabricated on Hadfield steel. Practical service tests demonstrated that the service lifetime of Hadfield steel railway crossings prehardened by HSP is more than triple that without prehardened treatment.