The effect of boron on the abrasive wear behavior of austenitic Fe-based hardfacing alloys

The effect of boron on the abrasive wear behavior of the austenitic Fe–Cr–C–Si–B hardfacing alloys was investigated with varying boron concentration. It was found that the abrasive wear resistance of the hardfacing alloys increased up to 50% compared to that of boron-free alloys with increasing boron concentration. The mechanism of the abrasive wear resistance changed at 0.6 wt.% boron. Below 0.6 wt.% boron concentration, the abrasive wear resistance was improved almost linearly and strain-induced martensitic transformation was considered as the controlling factor for improving the resistance. Above 0.6 wt.% boron, it was observed that the primary borides started to precipitate. Further increase in boron concentration was not able to enhance the resistance due to the negligible change of primary borides’ size and volume fraction. With these results, it was concluded that two different effects of boron on the wear resistance of the austenitic Fe–Cr–C–Si–B hardfacing alloys existed depending on the boron concentration.