Ferrite-martensite dual phase anti-erosion steel

In a slurry environment, increasing the hardness and the work hardening index of a steel both provide excellent erosion resistance. In order to get a steel with higher hardness and work hardening index, the effect of the volume fraction of martensite on these properties in a ferrite-martensite dual phase steel having a higher work hardening index compared to similar hardness steels with other microstructures was investigated. Using the theory developed by Tomota et al., the hardness and the work hardening indices of some ferrite-martensite dual phase steels are calculated. It is shown by the calculation that the steels with 0.2 to 0.7 martensite volume fraction show much higher work hardening indices than other microstructural steels with similar strength. Experimentally, the steel with approximately 0.3 martensite volume fraction shows higher work hardening index and twice as much erosion resistance compared to similar hardness steels without the dual phase microstructure.