Effect of retained austenite on wear resistance of nanostructured dual phase steels

Abstract

Nanostructured super bainitic and quenching–partitioning (Q&P) martensitic steels with a significant amount of retained austenite obtained by low temperature bainitic transformation and Q&P respectively were studied to explore the effect of retained austenite on stirring wear resistance. The results suggest that the Q&P martensitic steel significantly enhanced the hardness of the worn surface (from 674 to 762 HV1) and increased the thickness of the deformed layer (∼3.3 μm), compared to the nanostructured bainitic steel. The underlying reason is that the Q&P martensitic steel has a higher stability of retained austenite thereby providing a superior transformation induced plasticity effect to increase surface hardness and reduce wear rate during the wear process.

Keywords:

• Wear testing
• Retained austenite
• Nanostructured bainite
• Q&P martensite
• Steel

Acknowledgements

The authors express their thanks for the financial support from the Wuhan International Science and Technology Corporation Program [grant no. 2014030709020307].