Sliding wear behavior of stainless steel parts made by metal injection molding (MIM)

The wear resistance of stainless steel parts, which were fabricated by a metal injection molding (MIM) process, was studied under self-mating, dry sliding conditions, using a pin-on-disk type wear configuration. The materials used were an austenitic stainless steel 316L (of MIM and wrought steel), a precipitated stainless steel 17-4PH (of MIM and wrought steel) and a widely used ball-bearing steel (DIN 100Cr6). Two surface conditions, i.e. as sintered and as polished, were considered in the wear tests of the MIM samples. In summary, the wear resistance of 316L was lower than 17-4PH, and the latter was almost the same as 100Cr6. Further, the wrought materials showed a better wear resistance than the MIM materials. The mechanisms responsible for these tendencies were discussed by means of microscopical observations and chemical inspections of the worn surfaces and the microstructures of the samples.