Analysis of Sliding Wear Behavior of Mild Steel According to Hardness of Dissimilar Mating Materials

Abstract

− This study examines the wear behavior of mild steel pins mated against alloyed tool steel discs in a pin-on-disc type sliding test machine and provides specific clarification regarding the effects of disc hardness on the wear behavior of a mating mild steel pin. The analysis confirms these effects through the observation of differences in the wear rates of the mild steel pins at low sliding speed ranges. These differences occur even though the hardness of the mating disc does not affect the wear characteristic curve patterns for the sliding speeds, regardless of the wear regime. In the running-in wear regime, increasing the hardness of the mating disc results in a decrease in the wear rates of the mild steel pins at low sliding speed ranges. However, in the steadystate wear region, the wear rate of a pin mated against the 42DISC is greater than the wear rate of a pin mated against the 30DISC, which has a lower hardness value. This means that the tribochemical reactivity of the mating disc, which is based on hardness value, influences the wear behavior of mild steel at low sliding speed ranges. In particular, oxides with higher oxygen contents, such as Fe2O3 oxides, form predominantly on the worn surface of the 42DISC. On the contrary, the wear behavior of mild steel pins at high sliding speed ranges is nearly unaffected by the hardness of the mating disc.