Microabrasive Wear Test Procedure for Characterization of High Hardness Ferrous Materials

The ball cratering microabrasive wear test is a method whose feasibility in wear resistance characterization of metallic materials has been demonstrated in numerous investigations, however, there is still no standard that establishes the procedure for its application and the test requirements. This leads to the need to establish, through prior experimentation, the test procedure suitable for specific applications. In the present work, a microabrasive test procedure was obtained, aimed at the characterization of high alloy and hard ferrous materials, based on the quality of the wear mark, the behavior of the crater diameter with respect to the test time and the results dispersion. It was demonstrated that, by using alumina as the abrasive material, with a concentration of 10 g per 100 ml of water, a dropping frequency of one drop every 5 seconds, a test force of 0.27 N, a shaft rotation speed of 80 rpm and a test time of 10 minutes, reliable measurements are obtained in a permanent wear regime, which shows the importance of adapting this test parameter to the type of under-study material. It was also found that there is a correspondence between the hardness and the microstructure of the material with the average size of the wear crater and the dispersion of results.