Boronizing of cast martensitic chromium nickel stainless steel and its abrasion and cavitation-erosion behaviour

Boronizing of steels has been very effectively used in overcoming adhesive, sliding and abrasive wear. However, little information is available on boronized cast chromium-nickel steel (13Cr-4Ni) with regard to cavitation-erosion and abrasion resistance as well as their effect on mechanical properties. In this paper, the cavitation-erosion characteristics along with abrasive wear of boronized 13Cr-4Ni steel are studied in detail. Cavitation-erosion resistance was evaluated by using a rotating disc apparatus, whereas abrasive wear was studied as per ASTM G-65. These phenomena are being correlated with mechanical properties such as resilience and strain-energy. Drastic reduction in elongation and strain-energy of borided steel has resulted in poor cavitation-erosion resistance whereas improvement of the order of 300% was observed in abrasive wear resistance. All these results are being reported in this paper. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.