Formation of austenite antiwear coating with the controlled carbide strengthening

This paper investigates the structure and wearing capacity of carbide-strengthened austenite coatings as a function of the filler composition and their further thermal treatment. Mixtures of industrial powders were prepared by baking the fine dispersed fraction to provide flowability. Electron beam fusing was carried out on the plate of the steel by means of the welding unit, which includes an electron gun with plasma cathode. Results show that fusing austenite steel with initial carbide particles of tungsten, vanadium and molybdenum allows the saturated solid solution of alloying elements in the austenite matrix to be fixed due to the high velocity of the melt cooling. Aging the fused samples at 600°C provides deducing dispersed carbides over the matrix volume, resulting to the uniform distribution of the microhardness and an increase in the abrasive wearing capacity of the strengthened layer.