An energetic approach to abrasive wear of a martensitic stainless steel

Hardness and scratch tests performed on metallographic samples revealed that, aging at 485 deg C for 1 h increases the abrasion resistance of 17Cr-4Ni (17-4) quality stainless steel approx50% with respect to as-received condition, by increasing specific energy of both penetration and grinding stages. However, the increment in the specific energy of penetration stage is much lower than that of grinding stage. In an abrasion process, grinding stage is more effective than penetration stage in determining the energy consumption rate and therefore the wear resistance of the investigated stainless steel.