Enhancing the wear resistance of case carburized steel (En 353) by cryogenic treatment

All mechanical components that undergo sliding or rolling contact are subject to some degree of wear. So wear is an important tribological phenomenon while studying the failure of components. The observed frequent failure of crown and pinion due to wear and fatigue lead to this study on effect of cryogenic treatment on the wear resistance of case carburized steel (En 353). This paper deals with the pin on disk wear test without lubrication as per ASTM standard, designation: G 99-95A. The test was carried out for three different load conditions and seven sliding speeds for the samples, which has undergone three different treatment conditions namely conventional heat treatment (CHT), shallow cryogenic treatment (SCT) and deep cryogenic treatment (DCT). It has been found that the wear resistance has been considerably increased due to shallow cryogenic treatment and deep cryogenic treatment includes much more improvement in wear resistance when compared to conventional heat treatment. Also it is concluded that for better wear resistance, it is advisable to go for deep cryogenic treatment. The results are consistent with the previous studies reported in the literature on cryogenic treatments for other materials. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.