Effect of vanadium and rare earth (RE) oxide hardfacing on mechanical and sliding wear behavior of Fe based alloy

Abstract

Hardfacing is one of the preferred ways to prolong the life of machine components. In the current paper, efforts have been made to evaluate the flux composition on the hardness and wear behavior of a hard-faced surface. The shielded metal arc welding process was used to deposit the hardfacing layer over low carbon steel. Six different types of iron-based multicomponent flux compositions were developed using FeCr (25–30%), FeV (5%), FeMo (3–4 %), FeTi (2–3 %), Nb (3–4 %), and CeO2 (1–5 %) for hardfacing. The properties of the overlayer were examined using the microstructure study, hardness study, and abrasive wear test. Microstructural characterization was done using an optical microscope and field emission scanning electron microscope. X-ray diffraction was performed to examine the nature of precipitate formation. The worn-out surface and the debris were further examined, employing scanning electron microscopy to study the wear mechanism. The hard-faced surfaces revealed the presence of columnar and dendritic grains. Equiaxed grains were also observed in the sample, which was hard-faced with FeV. The hardness of the hard-faced surfaces was determined using the Vicker’s macro-hardness tester. A maximum hardness of 846.5 ± 2.5 HV was observed for weld overlay. The sliding wear behavior of the surface was investigated using an abrasive wear test performed on the pin-on-disk apparatus. The addition of vanadium to Fe-Cr-C hardfacing flux increased hardness and wear resistance between 3.5 and 6 times, respectively.