THE INFLUENCE OF STRONG CARBIDE-FORMING ELEMENTS AND HOMOGENIZATION ON THE WEAR-RESISTANCE OF FERRITIC STAINLESS-STEEL

The influence of strong carbide-forming elements such as Mo, Ti, V and Nb, and homogenization on the abrasive wear resistance, surface hardn ess, microhardness and toughness of ferritic stainless steels containi ng 18 wt.% Cr was investigated. It was seen that these elements increa sed the microhardness and wear resistance, but decreased the surface h ardness. However, they did not affect the toughness considerably. The homogenization increased the wear resistance, microhardness and toughn ess. It also increased the surface hardness of the other samples excep t for the sample which did not contain these elements. It was conclude d that, for applications where corrosion is not important, the existen ce of some M23C6 carbides together with MC carbides in the microstruct ure is useful for wear resistance. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.