TiC Particles Reinforced Wear Resistance of Low Alloy Ferritic Steel

Low alloy ferritic steel is a highly valuable material for various engineering applications due to its good mechanical and wear properties. However, the wear resistance of this steel can be further improved by reinforcing it with titanium carbide (TiC) particles. In this article, the wear behavior and microstructural evolution of low-alloy ferritic steel reinforced with 10 wt% TiC particles is examined.
    
Materials and Methods
To study the effect of TiC particles on the wear resistance of the low alloy ferritic steel, the low alloy ferritic steel was reinforced with 10 wt% TiC particles via powder metallurgy technique. The samples were then tested for their wear resistance by subjecting them to sliding wear tests on a 3-roll-plane tribometer in dry sliding conditions against 7.5 wt% chromium cast iron pins as compliant counterface. The wear track area before and after the test was measured and the wear loss was calculated accordingly.

Results and Discussion:
Shows the wear resistance of the un-reinforced low alloy ferritic steel and the TiC particle reinforced low-alloy ferritic steel. The results showed that the wear resistance was significantly improved with 10 wt% TiC particle reinforcement. The wear loss of the TiC reinforced sample was approximately 57% lower than that of the un-reinforced sample.
    
Wear resistance of un-reinforced and TiC-reinforced low alloy ferritic steel.

The microstructural studies of the samples after wear tests indicated that the wear resistance was improved due to finer grains and homogenous distribution of TiC particles as compared to the un-reinforced sample. The grain size of the TiC reinforced sample was reduced by 30% due to compressive deformation in presence of hard and rigid particles, which is believed to be the major factor behind the improved wear resistance.

It has been shown that the wear resistance of low alloy ferritic steel can be significantly improved by reinforcing it with 10 wt% TiC particles. The improved wear resistance can be attributed to the finer grains and homogenous distribution of the TiC particles in the steel matrix, which act as a barrier against further wear particle generation. The improvement in wear resistance was in the order of 57% compared to the un-reinforced sample. Thus, this study demonstrates that reinforcing low alloy ferritic steel with TiC particles is an effective approach to improve the wear resistance with minimal cost and effort.

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