Evaluation of abrasive wear of ductile cast iron in a single pass pendulum device

The abrasive wear resistance of ductile cast iron with different matrix microstructures (ferrite, pearlite, bainite and martensite) was studied under instrumented single-pass pendulum sclerometry testing. This technique uses only one abrasive particle with known geometry and the abrasive wear event can be isolated, providing fundamental information on the interaction between the particle and the material. The testing conditions selected were equivalent to those usually found on ore processing or dirt excavation machine components. Under these testing conditions high contact stresses and high deformation rates imposes extremely high strains on the material. The abrasion resistance was measured through the specific energy variation as a function of scratch depth that varied between 30 and 150 μm, corresponding to weight losses between 1 and 12 mg. The results demonstrated that the material response depends on the mechanical properties, on the microstructure and on the depth of penetration. For cast irons with hardness on the order of 300 HV and for scratches up to 60 μm deep, the best performance was obtained for pearlitic matrix. For cast irons with hardness on the order of 450 HV, the best resistance to abrasive wear was found in the material with bainitic matrix. The ductile iron with hardness >500 HV and with a tempered martensitic matrix did not present good abrasive wear resistance due to its low toughness.