Effect of heat treatment on the microstructure, hardness and abrasive wear resistance of high chromium hardfacing

Abstract

The effect of destabilization heat treatment on the microstructure, hardness, fracture toughness and abrasive wear resistance of high chromium hardfacing was investigated. The results from the study shows that the hardness, frac­ture toughness and abrasive wear resistance are influenced by temperature of destabilization heat treatment and air and furnace cooling conditions, respectively. Destabilization treatment of materials by furnace cooling caused higher secondary carbides in the dendritic austenite whilst by air cooling it showed smaller particles of secondary carbide. Also, it was found that destabilization temperature at 1,000°C improves hardness compared with hardfacing after weld depositing. The study, however, indicated that Palmqvist fracture toughness method is a useful technique for measuring the fracture toughness of high chromium hardfacing compared to Vicker’s hardness method.