Effects of carbon content and sliding ratio on wear behavior of high-vanadium high-speed steel (HVHSS) under high-stress rolling–sliding contact

This study developed a wear tester to investigate the wear properties of high-vanadium high-speed steel (HVHSS) with approximately 9% vanadium and different carbon contents under rolling–sliding condition. The carbon content significantly affected microstructure of matrix and mechanical properties of HVHSS, and therefore played an important role in wear resistance. Nevertheless, the wear failure mode was mainly related to sliding ratio, which varied from fatigue wear to sliding wear with increasing sliding ratio. The wear behavior was affected by the interaction of carbon content and sliding ratio. The high-stress rolling–sliding contact not only caused severe wear but transformed austenite to martensite.