Effect of Ni Addition on the Wear and Corrosion Resistance of Fe-20Cr-1.7C-1Si Hardfacing Alloy

In order to improve the corrosion resistance of Fe-20Cr-1.7C-1Si hardfacing alloy without a loss of wear resistance, the effect of Ni addition was investigated. As expected, the corrosion resistance of the alloy increased with increasing Ni concentration. The wear resistance of the alloy did not decrease, even though the hardness decreased, up to Ni concentration of 5 wt.%. This was attributed to the fact that the decrease in hardness was counterbalanced by the strain-induced martensitic transformation. The wear resistance of the alloy, however, decreased abruptly with increases of the Ni concentration over 5 wt.%.