Dry sliding wear behaviour of low alloyed sintered steels in relation to microstructure and fracture behaviour

The contribution deals with dry sliding wear behaviour of different Fe–Cr–Mo–[Mn]–[Cu] sintered powder metallurgy systems using a pin on disc test. The effect of chemical composition and two different processing conditions, industrial atmosphere at 1453 K (11808C) and vacuum atmosphere at 1513 K (12408C) related to a new proposed type of sinterhardening process, was investigated. The wear phenomena and the wear track characteristics were analysed in relation to processing and microstructures of the tested alloys through light and scanning electron microscopy. A delamination and ploughing wear features were observed for all the sintered steels, and sintering in industrial atmosphere led to an oxidation wear features, too. The results showed positive effect of sinterhardening process via suitable modification of microstructure, and this affected the prior particle boundaries on improving the wear resistance of the tested systems.