Influence of sub-zero temperature treatment on wear and microstructure of H13 tool steel

摘要

The paper presents a study on wear resistance of H13 tool steel by carrying out liquid nitrogen treatment on it. The H13 tool steel specimens are treated using liquid nitrogen to bring down the temperature to −196°C at 12, 24 and 36 hours. Wear test was carried out on the treated samples. Experiments was carried out using Taguchi's design of experiments. The results indicate that liquid nitrogen treatment at −196°C for different holding durations has linearly increased the wear resistance of the treated specimen and an increase in around 168% in wear resistance was observed in 36 hours when compared to 12 hours. ANOVA results indicate that the load on the pin and speed of the disc are less influential than the treatment duration during the dry sliding wear tests. Different wear mechanisms was observed using scanning electron microscopic analysis such as plastic deformation and peel-off, oxidation, and abrasion.