Powder metallurgy fabrication, characterisation and wear assessment of SS316L-Al2O3 composites

摘要

Despite their high potential, steel composites with high Al2O3 particle contents continue to face challenges primarily due to difficulties in densification and particle-matrix interface adhesion. Therefore, this research investigates the powder metallurgy fabrication and characterisation of 50 wt% SS316L - 50 wt% Al2O3 as potential candidate for wear applications. The composites are shown to predominantly wear by micro-cutting, resulting in slow wear. The best composites exhibited 7.2 times lower wear rate compared to unreinforced steel. Beside the hardness and the toughness, the remaining porosity plays a major role in the wear behaviour. It can be concluded that good dispersion using mechanical alloying as well as improved compaction and sintering can produce highly wear resistant steel composites with high alumina particle contents.