Influence of cooling speed on the microstructure and wear behaviour of hypereutectic Fe-Cr-C hardfacings

Three different wear tests (three-body abrasion according to ASTM G65 standard, impact/abrasion and solid particle erosion) were performed to study the wear performances of Fe-Cr-C hardfacing. Testing results have shown that if the cooling-off time t8/5 is too short it influences the brittleness and increases the residual stresses of the Fe-Cr-C hardfacing, which lowers its impact resistance. The effect of the cooling rate is in good correlation with wear test results and gives promise for further microstructure and process optimisation for the improved tribological performance.