Study on Microstructure Characteristics of Steel in Two-Body Abrasive Wear

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A detailed investigation was conducted on influence of microstructure constituents in two-body abrasive wear. A CSM high temperature pin-on-disc tribometer was extensively employed to simulate two-body abrasive wear. In this study, four microstructures (e.g. bainite, pearlite, martensite and tempered martensite) with similar hardness levels displayed a distinct response towards the abrasive behaviour. Despite similar hardness levels, the unique friction coefficient curve of the microstructures was ascribed to the characteristics of the microstructure constituents. The study revealed that the multiphase microstructures (bainite and pearlite) revealed better abrasion resistance than the single-phase microstructures (martensite and tempered martensite). Moreover, the two-body abrasive wear induced significant microstructural changes (i.e. severe deformation) in their sub-surface layers (i.e. region beneath the abraded surface). Surface profile and topography techniques highlighted the quantum of material loss in the microstructures. The distinct material removal mechanisms (e.g. ploughing and cutting) in the microstructures were observed through exclusive single wear track analysis. In general, microstructures with a combination of brittle and ductile metallurgical phases exhibiting work-hardening behaviour was more beneficial in abrasive conditions. However, there was a need to identify a laboratory abrasive wear test that can simulate the actual industrial test conditions.

To address this, a high strain abrasive wear testing was chosen, where a robust indenter abraded the microstructure under the action of a normal load, which resulted in a groove. This isolated the effect of abrasive environment characteristics (i.e. deterioration of abrasive particles) in the abrasion, thereby focusing on the microstructure response. This resulted in a thorough understanding of the material removal mechanisms occurring in microstructures during abrasion. The groove characteristics (i.e. degree of penetration, Dp) were significantly influenced by the microstructure constituents and the normal load. As expected, multi-phase microstructures (bainite and pearlite) demonstrated better abrasion resistance than the single-phase microstructures (martensite and tempered martensite). In general, the microstructures experienced ploughing material removal mechanism at low loads (i.e. 200 N to 500 N), whereas, cutting was more dominant at relatively high loads (above 1000 N). Additionally, a positive correlation between the work-hardening behaviour and the abrasive wear resistance of microstructures was observed through the subsurface
layer characterization. This proved to be the driving force for a future study in the abrasive wear behaviour of ultra-high strength bainitic steels (also known as nanobainitic steel). The presence of retained austenite in their microstructure matrix is known for superior work-hardening behaviour through TRansformation Induced Plasticity (TRIP) effect.

Key takeaways from this webinar:

• The microstructural constituents influenced their abrasive wear behaviour.
• Sub-surface investigations revealed unique abrasive response of the microstructures.
• The work hardening behaviour and distinct material removal mechanisms were observed in the microstructures.

Presenter: Dr. Balaji Trichy Narayanaswamy

Balaji is an Interdisciplinary Lecturer at University of Sydney. In his current role, he focuses on industry and community project units with a strong focus on real-world problems. He comes from Mechanical and Materials background. He completed his PhD at Deakin University in 2017 under Deakin University Postgraduate Research Scholarship. After completing his PhD, Balaji started as a Teaching Fellow at The University of Waikato (in New Zealand) for a teaching program in China. Over the course of three years, he built upon his experience as a teaching fellow and progressed to the role of lecturer.

In 2021, he was working for a start-up company-Conflux Technology partnered with Deakin University. He was involved in the alloy development for additive manufacturing of heat exchangers. Followed by which, he began his Teaching Scholar role with a focus on Work Integrated Learning-WIL within the Faculty of Science, Engineering and Built Environment at Deakin University. In this role, he was working on WIL programs to enhance research scholars’ employability skills, which are crucial for their future career paths in academia.

Career highlights:

• Recipient of ‘Victoria International Student of the Year 2016-Regional’ category for academic excellence and contribution to the Victorian community.
• Finalist from Victoria State in presenting ‘Sandwich steel structures for tackling abrasive wear’ a science talk ‘Fame Lab 2015′

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• The webinar will be recorded and will be sent out to registered attendees afterwards.
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