Effect of abrasive particle size on abrasive wear of hardfacing alloys

Hardfacing is one of the most useful and economical ways to improve the performance of components submitted to severe wear conditions. This study has been made for the comparison of microstructure and abrasion resistance of hardfacing alloys reinforced with chromium carbides or complex carbides. The hardfacing alloys were deposited onto ČNS EN S235JR low carbon steel plates by the gas metal arc welding (GMAW) method. Different commercial hardfacing electrodes were applied to investigate the effect of abrasive particle size on abrasive wear resistance. The abrasion tests were made using the two-body abrasion test according to ČSN 01 5084 standard, abrasive cloths were of grits 80, 120, 240, and 400. Microstructure characterisation and surface analysis were made using optical and scanning electron microscopy. The results show the different influence of abrasive particles size on the wear rate for different structures of Fe-Cr-C system. The structures without primary carbides are of high abrasive wear rate, which increases nonlinearly with the increasing abrasive particle size. On the contrary, the structures containing primary carbides are of low abrasive rates and theses rates increase linearly with the increasing abrasive particle size.