Effect of Dilution on Microstructure and Wear Resistance of a Fe-Based Hardfacing Alloy with a High Amount of Carbide-Forming Elements

Hardfacing is a widely diffused technique adopted to increase service life of parts for heavy-duty applications. Even though hardfacing alloys feature optimized chemistry and microstructure for specific service conditions, dilution with substrate modifies the resulting properties along a significant fraction of the deposit thickness. In particular, C and B diffusion to the substrate alters hypereutectic alloys reducing the carbide-forming ability andmodifying the solidification sequence. In the present paper, the effect of dilution on a hypereutectic Fe-C-B based alloy containing Cr and Mo was investigated. The effect of dilution on the reference alloy was studied by producing laboratory castings with an increased amount of Fe, up to 50 mass %. The obtained results were compared with the dilution of the hardfacing alloy cast on steel substrates. The microstructural evolution was analyzed by XRD (X-ray diffraction), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), optical microscopy (OM), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), whereas mechanical behaviour was evaluated by hardness measurements and wear resistance by pin-on-disc tests.