Comparing the tribological behaviour of an austenitic steel subjected to diverse thermal treatments

It is known that manganese steels respond well in situations where a high wear resistance is required. The manganese content provides an austenitic structure with both wear resistance and high tenacity values under wear. In its working life, this austenitic structure becomes martensitic as a result of impact and the phenomenon of friction, thus explaining an increase in hardness and its response under wear. Wear resistance of an austenitic steel with a 5% manganese content is determined following the regulation ASTM G105 "Standard test method for conducting wet sand/rubber wheel abrasion test", consistent with subjecting samples to an abrasive wear test under controlled conditions. These wear tests were carried out on samples that had been previously subjected to various heat treatments. Once the wear tests were completed, the hardness of the tested samples was measured. The results were then compared with those obtained for samples without wear. Moreover, the microstructure and impact test of each sample were examined. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.