THE EFFECT OF CARBIDES PRECIPITATION ON THE SLIDING WEAR CHARACTERISTICS ACCORDING TO HEAT TREATMENT CONDITIONS
This study investigated the effect of carbide precipitation hardening of heat-treated SK5M steel on the sliding wear resistance. The cold rolled carbon steel strip samples (J, G, and S-type) were oil quenched after tempering for optimal durations. The wear resistance was evaluated using a pin-on-disk wear test with an alumina counterface against different samples at various loads and distances with a constant running speed. The size and distribution of the precipitated carbides were observed using an image analyzer at various heat treatments. The heat-treated samples presented more dense carbide distribution in an area fraction and the decreased size of carbides. It is confirmed that the wear rate is minimum at an optimized austenitizing temperature of around 800°C. The specific wear rate indicates that the S-type sample has high wear resistance compared to that of J-Type. This is understood by stable wear behavior of S-type sample containing evenly distributed carbide precipitation.