Abrasive Wear of Fe-Mn-Si-Cr-Ni Shape Memory Stainless Steel: Preliminary Results

This study was developed to understand the influence of chemical composition and austenitic grain size on the wear resistance in stainless shape memory steel. A two-body abrasive wear device was used to understand the wear mechanism involved. They were tested pins with the following chemical composition: Fe-10.3Mn-5.3Si-9.9Cr-4.9Ni-0.006C and Fe-14.2Mn-5.3Si-8.8Cr-4.6Ni-0.008C after being austenitized at 900 and 1050 °C, followed by water quenching. The surface characterization was performed by optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, and the roughness profile evaluation was also conducted. The weight loss was measured after conducting the wear testing, and the wear rates were estimated. The results demonstrated that the alloy with less manganese and higher chromium content has the best wear resistance (between 17.5 and 18.9%). With an increase of the austenitic grain size there was a small reduction on the wear resistance (between 3.0 and 4.1%). The chemical composition demonstrated to have higher influence on the wear behavior than the austenitic grain size.