Abrasive Wear Mechanisms in Steel Alloys
Summary
Abrasive wear in steel alloys arises when hard particles or protuberances slide across a metallic surface, leading to material removal through micro-cutting and micro-ploughing processes. The severity of this wear depends on factors such as particle size and hardness, contact pressure, sliding velocity and the steel’s intrinsic properties—particularly its microstructure, phase composition and surface residual stresses. Two-body abrasion occurs when fixed abrasive asperities directly interact with the steel, while three-body abrasion involves free-rolling particles trapped between two surfaces. The presence of hard phases such as martensite enhances resistance to cutting but may promote brittle fracture, whereas softer phases can deform plastically, altering debris formation and wear rates. Surface treatments, including shot peening or hardfacing, create compressive residual stress fields or protective layers that mitigate wear. Understanding these mechanisms is critical for extending component life, reducing maintenance costs and improving energy efficiency in sectors from mining and material handling to automotive engines.
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Abrasive Wear Mechanisms in Steel Alloys publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in abrasive wear mechanisms in steel alloys across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Abrasive wear: Removal of material through hard particles or asperities forced across a surface.
Two-body abrasion: Wear in which abrasive particles are fixed and directly interact with the counterface.
Three-body abrasion: Wear involving loose abrasive particles that move freely between two surfaces.
Martensite: A hard, brittle steel phase formed by rapid quenching, rich in carbon.
Residual stress: Locked-in stresses within a material after manufacturing or surface treatment.
Microstructure: The arrangement of phases and defects in a material at the microscopic scale.
References
- Abrasive Sensitivity of Martensitic and a Multi-Phase Steels under Different Abrasive Conditions. Materials (2021).
- Influence of residual stress on the sliding wear of AISI 4340 steel. Matéria (Rio de Janeiro) (2020).
- Wear Properties of Metal Material in Dredging Equipment. Journal of Physics Conference Series (2024).
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