Enhanced Abrasion Resistance of Spark Plasma Sintered and HVOF Sprayed Hadfield High Manganese Steel by Turning and Diamond Smoothing

Abstract

Austenitic high-manganese steels (HMnS) offer very high wear resistance under dynamic loading due to their high work hardening capacity. However, resistance to static abrasive loading is limited. Various approaches to increasing abrasion resistance are known from traditionally manufactured metallurgical components. These confirm the high potential for surface protection applications. In this work, the powder of the Hadfield HMnS X120Mn12 is prepared and processed by high-velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) spraying and spark-plasma sintering (SPS). A good correlation was observed between the results of the HVOF and SPS specimen. Different surface conditions of the coatings and the sintered specimens were prepared by machining. Compared to the polished state, turning and diamond smoothing can increase the surface hardness from 220 HV to over 700 HV significantly. Regardless of the surface finish condition, similar good wear resistance can be demonstrated due to strong work hardening under sliding and reciprocating wear loading. In contrast, the finish machining process clearly influences abrasion resistance in the scratch test with the best results for the diamond smoothed condition. Especially against the background of current trends toward alternative coating systems, the presented results offer a promising approach for the development of HMnS in the field of coating technology.