Effect of the strain-hardening on the wear and corrosion behaviour of a Fe-Mn-Al-C alloy

摘要

Iron alloys with appreciable amounts of aluminium yield a corrosion resistant alumina surface film. The addition of Mn to these alloys makes them austenitic, significantly increasing ductility. Due to these factors, it is interesting to develop austenitic Fe-Mn-Al alloys that can substitute, in some applications, traditional stainless steels. This study aims to evaluate the wear and corrosion resistance of a Fe-32Mn-8Al-1C alloy after cold-rolling. Rolling was carried out with thickness reductions of 20%, 40% and 80%. Wear tests were performed using a micro-wear machine and corrosion tests performed in natural sea water. The results showed that Fe-Mn-Al-C alloy exhibits good cold-forming ability with a progressive increase of hardness with thickness reduction. The wear resistance increased as the reduction level was increased and corrosion resistance decreased with the increase of the strain-hardening, due to deformation. Such behaviour may be associated with stress corrosion, which is amplified by the degree of reduction.