High-temperature erosion rates of Fe-Cr-C alloys produced by mechanical alloying and sintering process

In order to develop a material having high erosive wear resistance at elevated temperature, the alloys of the ternary Fe-Cr-C system were produced by mechanical alloying (MA) and sintering process. Three kinds of alloys which have different contents of M₂₃C₆ carbide were made, and observation of the microstructure, measurement of the hardness and erosive wear test were carried out on each alloy. As a result the Fe-Cr-C alloys made by MA and sintering process have fine microstructure. The Vickers hardness of the MA-Fe-50% Cr-4.8% C alloy is more than 6 GPa at 973 K, and the erosive wear resistance of this alloy at 973 K is almost the same as that of sintered Cr₃C₂/Ni cermet, which is the commercially available material with high wear resistance. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science S.A.