Dry sliding oxidative wear in plain carbon dual phase steel

To investigate the tribological potential of the dual phase (DP) steel as a wear resistant material, the wear and the friction characteristics of this steel, which consists of hard martensite islands embedded in a ductile ferrite matrix, have been investigated and compared with those observed in plain carbon hardened ( H) steel that has the same carbon content of 0.2%. Dry sliding wear tests have been carried out using a pin-on-disk wear testing machine at different normal loads of 21.3 N, 28.5 N, 35.7 N, and 42.6 N and at a constant sliding velocity of 1.20 m/s. The analysis of surface and wear debris of samples showed that the wear mechanism was mainly mild oxidative. The friction and the wear rate of the H steel and the DP 'Steel have been explained with respect to the microstructure and the wear mechanism.