ABRASIVE WEAR CHARACTERISTICS OF CARBON AND LOW-ALLOY STEELS FOR BETTER PERFORMANCE OF FARM IMPLEMENTS

The low stress abrasion behaviours of heat treated mild, medium carbon and high C - low Cr steels, which are generally used in making farm i mplements, have been investigated. The simple heat treatment greatly i mproves the hardness, tensile strength and abrasion resistance of medi um carbon and high C - low Cr steels. The results indicate that the ma terial removal during abrasion is controlled by a number of factors, s uch as hardness, chemical composition, microstructure and heat treatme nt conditions. The conclusion is that the heat treated high C - low Cr steel and mild steel carburized by using coaltar pitch provide the be st hardness and abrasion resistance and thus appear to be the most sui table materials for making agricultural tools.