A study of abrasive wear on high speed steel surface in hot rolling by Discrete Element Method

In hot rolling, the asperities of oxidised strip and wear debris slide over High Speed Steel (HSS) work roll. Hence, abrasive wear occurs, and wear particles will be removed from the work roll surface. This work introduces a Discrete Element Method (DEM) model which has been applied successfully to study abrasive roll wear of HSS work roll with MC carbides embedded within the oxide layers at 650°C. From this research, it has been found that the carbide orientation, distribution in the HSS roll, different scratching tip size and scratching depth affect the wear significantly. •This work has overcome the challenge in determining the bond properties to reflect accurately mechanical properties of oxide material at 650°C.•The effects of carbide shape, orientation, distribution and tip size on the abrasive wear of HSS have been examined.•Two realistic, ‘rod’ and ‘chicken-feet’ shape MC carbides have been presented and successfully embedded into oxide scale.•The work has taken advantage of DEM that can naturally produce material removal in the prediction of wear.