Surface modifications for wear resistant steels by methods of induced metastable austenite structures

Abstract

The problem of creation of new economical surfacing material, not containing expensive components (Ni, Mo, Nb, W and others) and new strengthening technologies for steels is quite actual and modern for many countries. One of the way of solving this problem is to develop metastable austenite conditions and realize them in the process of wear Deformation Induced Martensite γ→α′ Transformation (DIMT), accompanied with emission of carbide, carbon-nitride or inter-metallic compound of expensive phases inside the surface layer. The purpose of this work is to develop new economical (nickel free) powder surfacing materials and new technologies of surface hardening providing strain selfhardening during the wearing process for increasing characteristic and wear resistant of the surfacing parts. New ways and processes of surface modifications of metastableaustenite phase-structural states were developed: electrode-arc surfacing with powder electrodes of metastable Fe-Cr-Mn steel grades of austenite, austenite-martensite or martensite-austenite classes without application of heat treatment, combined with subsequent quenching, ageing, thermo-cyclic treatment for regulating the degree of austenite
metastability (depending upon the required wear resistance and other mechanical properties); plasma, electron-beam or laser treatments with different degree of surface melting (if necessary combined with volume heat treatment) of alloyed steels of different structural classes and designation