Subsurface characteristics of an abraded low carbon steel

Ductile metals commonly exhibit plastic deformation at and near the worn surface and their flow behaviour at large strains has a clear effect on wear resistance, In this study, the characteristics of the near-surface region of a ferritic-pearlitic steel (0.2% C, 1.2% Mn), subjected to abrasive wear tests, were examined. Wear tests were performed under different loads by rubbing the specimens on sliding 60 mesh Al₂O₃ abrasive band. The metallographic technique used to determine the magnitude of plastic deformation was based on measurement of the displacements of pearlite bands. The hardness of the plastic deformation zone was determined by performing ultramicrohardness tests along ferrite bands with a Vickers indenter. Microscopic examinations of the near-surface regions revealed the wear mechanism to be ploughing and the deformation mechanism to be cross-slip. It was observed that plastic strain (more than 6) occurred on the abraded surface, and increased the hardness to about 1.5 times the original value. The strain and hardness gradient extended to a larger depth into the bulk with increasing wear test load. It is concluded that the wear resistance of the investigated steel increases by work hardening of the near-surface region which is required to consume high energy for abrasion, during sliding. Ultramicrohardness measurements performed on worn specimens revealed high hardness, as the indent size decreased. The indentation size-hardness relation was explained by a dislocation model incorporating geometrically necessary dislocations due to the presence of strain gradients in the deformation region around the indent.