Influence of tool steel carbide size and type on abrasive wear resistance

Sammanfattning

The performance of tool steels in abrasive environments is determined by their microstructural features, particularly carbide type and size. This thesis aims to investigate how these parameters influence abrasive wear resistance in tool steels including one carbide-lean, one reinforced with fine carbonitrides and two with Vanadium carbides of different sizes. Each material was subjected to two main testing methods; a multi-particle abrasion test for quantifying wear rate and single-particle scratch tests (including two indenter sizes) for evaluating abrasive wear mechanisms. Surface topography was assessed using light optical microscopy (LOM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and profilometry. The results show a clear correlation between the size and type of carbides and their effect on abrasive wear performance. Coarse Vanadium carbides exhibited the lowest wear rate and the highest resistance to abrasive wear mechanisms. Fine Vanadium carbides followed closely, while fine carbonitrides yielded moderate performance. Carbide-lean tool steel demonstrated the highest abrasive wear.