Improvement of wear resistance of quenched structural steel by nanostructuring frictional treatment

The paper deals with the study of the structure, deformation hardening, and wear resistance under abrasive and sliding friction of quenched structural steel 50 (0.51% of C), which is subjected to frictional treatment by a hard alloy indenter. The resistance of a steel surface layer hardened by frictional treatment to mechanical effects is estimated using the kinetic indentation method. It is shown that frictional treatment yields a considerable increase in the wear resistance of quenched medium-carbon steel tested in pairs with flint and corundum, as well as under the conditions of adhesive wear and boundary friction, due to the hampering of the processes of microcutting, seizure, and plastic deformation. This is favored by the higher resistance of the nanostructured layer to residual deformation during contact loading. © 2012 Allerton Press, Inc