Wear behavior of a ferritic stainless steel with carbides manufactured through powder metallurgy

A ferritic stainless steel has been manufactured through the powder metallurgy (P/M) route: uniaxial pressing and sintering. The sintering process was carried out in vacuum, at 1215 °C for 30 min. After sintering, materials showed nearly 90% of density. A complete metallographic study was carried out using optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Wear behavior was evaluated using a "pin on disk" test according to ASTM Standard G99. Eight test conditions were studied, varying the load (5 and 10 N), the speed (0.1 and 0.4 m/s), and the counter-material (chromium steel and a martensitic stainless steel). The sliding distance was 400 m, and tests were carried out on polished materials, with less than 30% of relative humidity. Moreover, wear tracks were observed by SEM in order to understand the wear processes involved, which depend mainly on the counter-material.