Materials and Design 50 (2013) 728736

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Materials and Design

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Inuence of copper and molybdenum on dry sliding wear behaviour

of sintered plain carbon steel
T.K. Kandavel, R. Chandramouli , M. Manoj, B. Manoj, Deepak Kumar Gupta
School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanmugha Arts, Science, Technology and Research Academy (SASTRA University), Thanjavur 613 401, Tamil Nadu, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Study of wear behaviour of sintered low alloy steels is required to ascertain their applications for wear
Received 26 October 2012 resistance. In the present work the inuence of copper and molybdenum on wear behaviour of plain car-
Accepted 7 March 2013 bon steel (Fe0.5%C) using pin-on-disk arrangement has been addressed. Atomized iron (Fe), graphite (C),
Available online 28 March 2013
copper (Cu) and molybdenum (Mo) elemental powders were suitably weighed and thoroughly mixed in a
pot mill to yield the alloy powders of Fe0.5%C, Fe0.5%C2%Cu and Fe0.5%C2%Mo. Admixed alloy
Keywords: powders were then compacted and sintered for obtaining preforms of aspect ratio (height/diameter)
Low alloy steels
1.3 and diameter 25 mm. The sintered preforms were then hot extruded and subsequently machined
Sintering
Wear
to obtain wear test specimens of diameter 6 mm and height 50 mm. Using Design of Experiment soft-
Coefcient of friction ware, the sliding wear experiments were planned and conducted on a pin-on-disk tribometer. It has been
found that there is a substantial improvement in wear resistance of the P/M plain carbon steel by the
addition Mo rather than Cu. However coefcient of friction is higher due to presence of hard microstruc-
tural phases. Delamination wear is found predominant for both the alloy steels. Empirical correlations for
mass loss and coefcient of friction with respect to load/speed have been developed for the alloy steels.
2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Low alloy powder metallurgy (P/M) steels nd extensive appli-
cations in automobile and industrial machinery. Machine parts
produced through the P/M technique, when subjected to relative
motion, are likely to undergo extensive damage by wear due to
inherent porosity. Tribological behaviour of P/M steels could be
different from that of conventional wrought materials due to the
presence of porosity. In the present research work, the inuence
of Cu and Mo on dry sliding wear behaviour of plain carbon steel
processed through P/M route has been studied by conducting wear
tests using pin-on-disk tribometer.
Wear studies on P/M alloys have been carried out by a number
of researchers. Molinari and Straffelini [1] have investigated the
wear behaviour of FeCNiMo and FeCMo steels under as-sin-
tered and heat treated conditions and found that the heat treated
alloy steel is subjected to lower wear rates due to its high strength
and resistance to plastic ow. They have also reported that the
addition of Mo has promoted greater wear resistance to the alloy
steel due to bainite structure. Wang and Danninger [2] have re-
ported that the wear behaviour of the Fe1%C3.5%Mo alloy steel
is depended on the PM processing parameters, post sintering heat
treatment (quenched and tempered) process and wear conditions.
Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 04362 264101; fax: +91 04362 264120.
E-mail address: rcm@mech.sastra.edu (R. Chandramouli).
They have found that the alloy steel in the as sintered state sub-
jected to lower wear rate and has low coefcient of friction com-
pared to that of quenched and tempered specimens due to the
transformation of bainitic to martensitic microstructure. Ceschini
et al. [3] have found that the increase in Mo content in FeCMo
P/M alloy steel has appreciable improvement in the sliding wear
resistance of the sintered alloy steels due to the formation of bain-
itic microstructures. They have also reported that higher sintering
temperature has led to enhancement of wear resistance of the
FCMo steel. It has been observed that the addition of sulphur
(S) to FeMo alloy steels contributes to reducing the wear rate sig-
nicantly due to the tribological chemical reactions of S with Fe
and Mo, which leads to the formation of Fe oxides and Mo sulp-
hides, which in turn form adherent lm on the wear surface [4].
It has been experimentally proved [5] that the non-annealed Fe
42at%Mo disc against ASTM 52100 exhibits higher wear resistance
compared to the annealed specimen due to higher fracture tough-
ness and hardness. They have also identied adhesive wear as the
predominant mode of wear of the alloy steel. Adding Cu and Mo to
plain carbon steel is reported [6] to reduce the deformation level
due to the formation of coalesced Cu particles and Mo particulates,
which enhances the hardness of the steel. The enhanced hardness
could result in reduced wear of the steel. It has been experimen-
tally found [7] that the addition of Mo to plain carbon steel appre-
ciably improves its hardness and tensile strength of alloy steel due
to the possible formation of carbides and particulates of alloying
element. In general higher hardness in alloy steel leads to the

0261-3069/$ - see front matter 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2013.03.037
 T.K. Kandavel et al. / Materials and Design 50 (2013) 728736
better anti wear characteristic. Tekeli et al. [8] have experimentally
found that the wear rate of Fe0.3%C P/M steel subjected to
intercritical annealing, followed by water quenching is lower as
compared to that of the material in as-sintered state, due to the
transformation of pearlite into martensite microstructure during
quenching process. The wear mechanism found in this alloy spec-
imen is found to be a mixture of adhesive and abrasive wear due to
high volume fraction of martensite in microstructure. It has been
found by Anton et al. [9] that the addition of 0.7%C to plain carbon
steels enhances their wear behaviour as compared to 0.3%C
addition, due to the formation of higher volume of pearlite phase
in the ferritic microstructure. Leheup et al. [10] have investigated
the effect of density on wear behaviour of sintered iron specimens
and have concluded that the wear behaviour of the sintered
preforms is depended on the sliding amplitude rather than the
density. Lim and Brunton [11] have found that the open pores on
the sliding surfaces of sintered iron preforms act as sites for the
generation and collection of wear debris. Further, they have re-
ported that the wear behaviour of both sintered and nonsintered
iron preforms is same, if the sliding surface is covered by the mate-
rial ow or mechanical polishing. They have also observed that the
wear ploughing and delamination are the dominant wear mecha-
nisms at high and low normalized pressures respectively. Lim
et al. [12] have investigated the wear properties of unlubricated
specimens of sintered and non-sintered medium and low carbon
steels. It has been found that the wear behaviour of both the
non-sintered and sintered specimens of the steels is similar. Mild
oxidation wear producing ne oxide debris and oxide plateaux,
with delamination as a secondary mechanism at higher load and
speed is reported for the above-mentioned steels. Colaco et al.
[13] have experimentally found that though the AISI M42 steels
having higher hardness after the laser surface melting (LSM) treat-
ment of the sintered specimens exhibit poor wear behaviour
compared to sintered specimens due to the complete elimination
of residual porosity and super saturated martensite. This in turn
leads to the dominance of abrasive wear with corresponding high-
er coefcient of friction. It has been found [14] that the addition of
C and Cu to steel enhances the wear resistance of the alloy steel
and also reported that delamination wear is predominant for the
sintered and heat-treated alloy steels. Kang [15] has investigated
the suitability of sintered iron-based alloys for severe sliding wear
conditions. He has reported that oxidative wear mechanism is
found to be predominant on Fe based alloy material due to the
formation of solid lm oxides of Fe at the relatively higher temper-
atures between the interface materials. It has been reported that
the addition of copper as alloying element to iron based alloys
signicantly improves the wear resistance of the alloy steels due
to predominant delamination wear process [16]. Gopinath [17]
has studied the wear behaviour of FeCu alloys and has observed
that the wear rates of the alloy are reduced with increasing sliding
speed up to a particular threshold value, after which the trend is
reversed. It has been found [18] that the addition of MoS2 to
FeCCu and FeCCuNi P/M alloy steels invariably improves
the wear behaviour of alloys. Though the addition of MoS2 in-
creases the frictional coefcient, the hard phase limits the plastic
deformation of pores and resists the penetration providing barrier
against the indentation and cutting. Severe damage of abrasive
particles due to wear results in the reduction of cutting efciency
by capping due to debris covering the tips of abrasive particles
and also stabilizes the coefcient of friction. Higher wear rates
due to detachment of surface platelets by microploughing, result-
ing in abrasive wear were observed on p/m steel with 2%Ni and
0.3%C, under annealed condition [19]. The same steel has shown
reduced wear under quenched and tempered condition due to
martensitic structure. Khorsand et al. [20] have studied the
inuence of heat treatment on wear behaviour of Fe1.75
729
Ni1.5Cu0.5Mo0.6C low alloy steel. They have hypothesised
that open porosity in the case of sintered steel might act as sites
of generation and collection of wear debris which in turn reduce
the wear rate of the alloy steel. Ranjan and Upadhyaya [21] have
experimentally found that the addition of Cu to plain carbon steel
adversely affects the densication property and improves the
mechanical properties of the plain carbon steel. They have also
reported that the oil-quench heat treatment improves the
mechanical properties of the low alloy steel. The increase in hard-
ness due to Cu addition could enhance the wear properties of the
alloy steel.
In the present research the tribological properties of the alloy
steels Fe0.5%C2%Cu, Fe0.5%C2%Mo and plain carbon steel
Fe0.5%C are analyzed in two ways. Inuence of Cu and Mo as
alloying element on wear property of the plain carbon steel is dis-
cussed and the combinational effect of various loads and speeds on
wear properties is also analyzed by conducting the dry sliding wear
tests using pin-on-disk wear testing machine.
2. Experimental details
Elemental powders of iron, graphite, copper and molybdenum
were accurately weighed and thoroughly mixed in an indige-
nously fabricated ball mill for 10 h to yield the alloy compositions
of Fe0.5%C, Fe0.5%C2%Cu and Fe0.5%C2%Mo. Powder
mixes were then compacted into cylindrical billets of size
25  33 mm, using a 1000 kN Universal Testing Machine
(UTM). Aluminium coating was applied on the exposing surface
of green compacts to prevent oxidation during sintering. Sintering
of the coated and dried samples was carried out in a 3.5 kW muf-
e furnace at a temperature of 1000 10 C for a period of
120 min. The sintered preforms were subjected to hot extrusion
process at a temperature of 1050 C to get cylindrical pin of
10 mm diameter. The extruded pin was further machined for
the standard size (6  50 mm) to conduct sliding wear track
tests, using pin-on-disk arrangement. EN31 disc was used as
counter face material and the track radius was kept constant at
16.5 mm for the dry sliding wear test. The wear test was carried
out based on the standard ASTM G99-05. The load and speed
ranges for the present research work have been chosen as 15
50 N and 3001200 rpm respectively. Microstructures and optical
image of the wear surfaces of the P/M alloy steel pins were ob-
served using KYOWA, ME-LUX2, microscope tted with CCD cam-
era. SEM images of maximum worn out surfaces of the alloy
specimens were observed using JEOL-Field Emission Scanning
Electron Microscope (TSM-6701F, Japan).
The experiment was designed using central composite module
of response surface methodology of Design Expert Software was
employed in order to plan the experiments and to analyze the
experimental results. The wear test plan and results are illustrated
in Table 1.
3. Results and discussion
The loss of mass due to wear leads to appreciable dimensional
changes in the mating parts, which in turn leads to malfunction
of parts. It is essential to keep the mass loss within limits for a
functional life period of mating parts in machinery. Therefore,
mass loss is considered an important parameter in wear studies.
Mass loss of the pin specimens was estimated accurately using
a four decimal Shimadzu Digital Balance and correlated with load
and speed. The coefcient of sliding friction (l) was estimated
during the wear test and correlated with load and speed. Table 1
gives the experimental results of the wear test.
730 T.K. Kandavel et al. / Materials and Design 50 (2013) 728736

Table 1
Wear test results for the P/M low alloy steels.

Input parameters Type of P/M alloys and responses/output parameters

Load (N) Speed (rpm) Time (min) Fe0.5%C Fe0.5%C2%Cu Fe0.5%C2%Mo
Mass loss (g) Coefcient of friction Mass loss (g) Coefcient of friction Mass loss (g) Coefcient of friction
15.0 750.0 20 0.0085 0.5462 0.017 0.5473 0.0048 0.5640
20.1 431.8 0.0051 0.4993 0.0086 0.5507 0.0050 0.5071
1068.1 0.0076 0.6144 0.0096 0.5721 0.0100 0.6215
32.5 300.0 0.0048 0.5690 0.0184 0.5208 0.0061 0.4664
750.0 0.0229 0.4636 0.0176 0.5016 0.0099 0.4879
1200.0 0.0073 0.5062 0.0080 0.4416 0.0143 0.5257
44.9 431.8 0.0120 0.5334 0.0208 0.4978 0.0125 0.5413
1068.1 0.0200 0.5255 0.0093 0.4597 0.0141 0.4424
50.0 750.0 0.0221 0.4419 0.0244 0.4293 0.0250 0.4867

3.1. Mass loss versus load and speed
Unlike wrought materials, the wear behaviour of porous mate-
rials is considerably inuenced by the porosity. Initial removal of
metal called debris occupies the pores on the worn surface, which
in turn affects further wear behaviour of the material. Some of the
parameters which affect the wear of porous materials are porosity
or density, alloying elements present, type of microstructure etc. In
the case of alloy steels, if the delamination wear is the predomi-
nant mode of wear, the addition alloying elements to sintered
materials is likely to be more effective in reducing the wear rate.
On the other hand the alloying elements are found to play lesser
role on the wear mechanism if the wear is mainly oxidative [14].
Fig. 1ac illustrate the 3D and contour plots between the mass
loss of the alloy steels and the load/speed obtained during the wear
test runs.
The general trend observed in the alloy steels is that the mass
loss increases with increase in load at any speed. This is in confor-
mity with the general principle of wear. The reason for this trend is
the delamination of oxide layer forming on the contact surface of
the specimen, which subsequently increases the wear rates [10].
It is also observed from the plots for alloy steels that the amount
of wear loss at the minimum load is observed to be lowest irre-
spective of the alloy compositions.
For plain carbon steel, the wear loss is higher with increase in
load. However, beyond a threshold speed, the trend is reversed.
Reason for such trend reversal is at the higher loads and speeds,
oxidative wear could be predominant [15]. The plain carbon steel
contains soft ferriticpearlitic phase matrix, which accounts for
the appreciable mass loss during initial stages of the wear. Increas-
ing the pearlitic phase in the microstructure by enhancing the car-
bon content could result in the reduction of wear rate [15]. During
the sliding wear at higher loads and speeds the possibility of oxida-
tion of iron present in the steel is larger due to the enhanced tem-
perature at the interface, as a result of heat generation. This leads
to the formation of oxides on the wear surface of the specimen,
which prevents further wear. It is reported in the literature that
low/medium carbon steels undergo delamination of the oxide pla-
teaux on the wear surface at loads/speeds sufciently higher [12].
The delamination wear mechanism is reported to be predominant
for a particular threshold value of load and speed at which the alloy
is subjected to enhanced wear loss. For the plain carbon steel, be-
yond the minimum load and maximum speed condition, the trend
is reversed i.e., the mass loss due to wear is getting reduced. This is
due to the predominance of oxidative wear mechanism [1]. The
highest mass loss, otherwise dened as critical mass loss, occurs
at 864 rpm under the maximum load condition. After the critical
speed (speed corresponding to the critical mass loss) and at higher
load condition, the soft plastic particles of wear debris get embed-
ded on the surface of the specimen, which subsequently may lead
to a reduction in the wear loss [20]. To conclude, a combination of
oxidative and delamination wear mechanisms is hypothesised in
the case of the plain carbon steel [1,12].
For Cu alloyed steel, at lower loads, there is a slight increase in
wear, with speed. This may be expected due to the normal mech-
anism of delamination wear. However, at higher loads, the wear is
observed to be reduced with increase in speed right through the
entire range of speed. This can be explained by the mechanism of
oxidative wear [14,17]. At enhanced loads, the mode of wear
changes to oxidative from delamination mode. Copper is a known
oxide forming element and with increase in temperature the
chemical susceptibility for the oxidation reaction is also enhanced.
As a result, it forms a sticky oxide layer on the wear surface that
leads to reduction in wear rate [16,17]. Further, the Cu particles
(free copper) which are embedded between the grain boundaries
react with the surrounding air and form a sticky oxide layer on
the wear surface [6,21]. This phenomenon reduces the wear loss
further at higher speeds. At the highest load, there is a downward
trend of mass loss with respect to speed. This may be due to the
operation of the oxidative wear mechanism right from the begin-
ning of the process. Further, the softening effect of the copper par-
ticles also enhances the wear resistance [15]. The highest wear loss
for the Cu-alloyed steel is observed at the minimum speed
(0.0235 g) and the maximum load. At lower speeds, increasing
the load leads to delamination of the oxide layer formed on the
wear surface, thereby subjecting the alloy steel to increased wear.
The delamination effect on the oxide layer is reported to be due to
higher energy at the interface as well as enhanced interfacial fric-
tion [4,12].
The alloy steel containing Mo as alloying element shows normal
trend in wear behaviour. The mass loss increases with speed as
well as load. However, the extent of mass loss in the alloy is lower
(0.0183 g) compared to that of the carbon steel (0.0206 g). The
wear behaviour of this alloy with load/speed is observed to be lin-
ear with respect to load/speed. The highest mass loss is observed to
occur at the maximum load and speed. Mo alloyed steels exhibit
better wear resistance behaviour compared with the plain carbon
steel [13,5]. Mo is one of the known carbide forming alloying ele-
ments. Mo carbides and Mo particulates are expected to occupy the
grain boundary areas and strengthen the grain boundary region
[6]. Such strengthening action of the Mo carbides/particulates
could enhance the wear resistance of the steel [2,8,12].
3.2. Coefcient of friction versus load and speed
The coefcient of sliding friction was evaluated for the P/M al-
loy steels under varying conditions of load, speed from the pin-
on-disk experiments.
Fig. 2ac depict the variation of the coefcient of friction for the
alloys under different load-speed combinations.
 T.K. Kandavel et al. / Materials and Design 50 (2013) 728736 731

(i) (ii)

(a) Fe-0.5%C

(b) Fe-0.5%C-2%Cu

(i) (ii)

(c) Fe-0.5%C-2%Mo
Fig. 1. (a)(c) Mass loss behaviour of the P/M alloy steels at various loads/speeds.

In all the alloys, the common observation is that the coefcient
of friction gets reduced with increase in both load and speed. This
may be reasoned from the point of view of surface oxidation. At
higher speed/load more oxidation of interface could occur due to
high interface temperature. The presence of oxide layer on the
interface reduces the friction.
For the carbon steel, the coefcient of friction is found to be
almost constant at the lower sliding speeds irrespective of the
normal load and corresponding mass loss variation is quite low
and linear. Due to mild delamination of oxide layer, the friction
is found to be unvarying with load. The coefcient of friction is
observed to be higher at the highest speed and the lowest load con-
dition. This may be due to the plastic state of already formed oxide
layer at the higher temperature and hence the corresponding wear
loss is observed lower. It is observed that the frictional coefcient
is the least at the critical mass loss region. As the wear debris is
732 T.K. Kandavel et al. / Materials and Design 50 (2013) 728736

(i) (ii)
(a) Fe-0.5%C

(b) Fe-0.5%C -2%Cu

(i) (ii)

(c) Fe-0.5%C-2%Mo
Fig. 2. (a)(c) Coefcient of friction of the P/M alloy steels at various loads/speeds.

continuously removed from the interface, the corresponding fric-
tion between the surfaces is found very minimum [15]. Delamina-
tion of thin oxide lm could be the reason for this reduction of
friction at the interface.
In the case of Cu alloyed steel, the frictional coefcient is almost
constant for the entire speed range at lower load conditions. The
same kind of trend is also exhibited for the wear loss of the alloy
steel. The alloy steel also exhibits a decrease in frictional coefcient
with increase in mass loss, which may be explained by the delam-
ination of oxide lm on the interface at the entire load range irre-
spective of the speed. The least friction occurs at the highest load
and sliding speed conditions and the corresponding wear loss is
also the least. The formation of sticky oxide layer on the interface
may have led to reduction in mass loss as well as the frictional
coefcient of the alloy steel [18].
Frictional coefcient and mass loss are found to increase steeply
with increase in sliding velocity at lower loads for the Mo alloyed
steel. The reason could be the delamination of oxide lm on the
 T.K. Kandavel et al. / Materials and Design 50 (2013) 728736
interface of the contact surface. However the frictional force is not
so steep in the case of the application of the normal load at the
lower sliding speed condition. Minimum friction is found to act
at the critical mass loss state, which is evident from the lowest va-
lue of coefcient of friction. This may be due to the predominant
delamination wear on the wear surface at this condition. More over
the friction may be primarily due to the Mo carbides excepting the
soft ferrite phase in the microstructure of Mo alloyed steel. That is
why the frictional coefcient is lesser at the higher load and speed
regions. More over greater frictional force is found to act on the
interface materials due to the presence of Mo particulates and car-
bides in this steel [6,7].
3.3. Empirical equations for mass loss and coefcient of friction
evaluations of P/M alloy steels
In order to generalize the wear behaviour of the P/M alloy steels
considered for the study, generalized correlations between wear
loss and coefcient of friction with respect to load and speed have
been obtained from the ANNOVA module of Design Expert soft-
ware. The generalized correlations are as followed:
The empirical correlations of mass loss and coefcient of fric-
tion for the plain carbon steel are given as Eqs. (1) and (2):
Z ML  0:015544 5:86087  105  x
1:06057  105  y 3:49206  107  xy
 4:2963  108  x2 1:79592  106  y2 1 wear loss and the interface frictional force is found to be lower
Z l 0:72932  3:87519  104  x  5:52555  103  y
 7:81397  106  xy 4:32456  107  x2
1:43714  103  y2
The empirical equations of mass loss and coefcient of friction
evaluation for the Cu alloyed carbon steel (Fe0.5%C2%Cu) are gi-
ven as Eqs. (3) and (4):
Z ML 9:46374  104 4:18479  105  x
 2:69347  105  y  7:9365  107  xy
 1:73045  108  x2 1:30476  105  y2 3
Z l 0:52108 1:5328  104  x 2:92537  104  y
 3:7778  106  xy  5:40741  108  x2
5 2 alloy steels
 1:25388  10 y
The empirical equations of mass loss and coefcient of friction
evaluation for the Mo alloyed carbon steel (Fe0.5%C2%Mo) are
given as Eqs. (5) and (6):
Z ML  0:019119 2:99666  105  x 5:7677  104  y
 2:15873  107  xy  1:0535  108  x2
8:70748  107  y2
Z l 0:54522 4:39277  104  x  0:010696y
 1:35429  105  xy 2:66399  108  x2
2:61386  104  y2
where ZML is the mass/wear loss of the P/M alloy steel (g), Zl the
coefcient of friction of the P/M alloy steel, x the speed (rpm),
and y is the load (N).
Using these equations, the wear loss and frictional coefcient
could be found out at any load and speed conditions of the P/M
alloy steels.
733
3.4. Evaluation of critical mass loss of alloy steels
The critical mass loss and corresponding load and speed of the
P/M alloy steels have been evaluated using the ANNOVA module of
Design Expert soft ware. The mass loss is found to be inuenced by
the load more than the speed. Therefore, we conclude that load is
more signicant than speed. The critical mass loss is found as fol-
lowed: keeping the signicant parameter namely, load, constant at
the maximum value, the maximum mass loss is obtained by vary-
ing the other parameter, namely speed. The critical mass loss can
also be evaluated using the wear behaviour equation for the partic-
ular P/M alloy steel. Substituting the higher value of the most sig-
nicant factor and partially differentiating the quadratic equation
of mass loss with respect to speed and equating to zero will result
in value of sliding speed at which the mass loss is maximum. Ta-
ble 2 provides the speed and load corresponding to the critical
mass loss value for the P/M alloy steels.
3.5. Microstructures
Microstructures of the extruded P/M alloy steel specimens are
illustrated in Fig. 3ac. It is observed from the microstructure of
the plain carbon steel Fig. 3a, that the steel contains soft ferritic
pearlirtic phases. Pearlites are uniformly distributed in the well de-
ned ferritic grain matrix. A number of tiny pores could also been
seen in the gure. The plain carbon steel is subjected to higher
due to soft ferrite structure. The microstructure of Cu alloyed steel
is shown in Fig. 3b. Though it is similar to the plain carbon steel in
the micro-phases, the coalesced Cu particles embedded between
ferrite grains are observed at some places. Due to soft nature of ba-
sic ferriticpearlitic microstructure along the coalesced Cu parti-
2
cles, the Cu-alloy steel is subjected to higher mass loss, as
evident in the wear test and the corresponding frictional coef-
cient is found to be lower.
Fig. 3c shows the microstructure of Fe0.5%C2%Mo alloy steel.
Mo particulates embedded between the ferritepearlite grains are
observed from the structure. The hard phase Mo carbides could also
be seen in the image. Mo alloyed steel is found to be subjected to
lower wear loss compared to the parent metal due to the inuence
of alloying element. Frictional coefcient of Mo alloyed steel is
found to be higher due to the presence of hard phase in the material.
3.6. SEM and optical images of the maximum wear surface of the P/M
4
Figs. 4 and 5 illustrates the optical images and SEM images of
the maximum worn out surfaces of the steel specimens. It is ob-
served from Fig. 4a that the plain carbon steel is subjected to uni-
form wear through out the wear region as considered by evenly
made alternate crest and trough portion on the wear surface. The
bright areas of a thin oxide layer are visible throughout the entire
wear surface and the dark areas are probably the areas fully cov-
5
ered by oxide [9]. The alternate white and dark areas are the hill
and groove of the wear track [10]. A few bright particles are also
observed in the image and this could be the metallic debris
embedded in the pores [10]. As the plain carbon steel consists of
6 Table 2
Critical mass loss of the P/M low alloy steels.
Alloys composition Critical mass loss parameters
Speed (rpm) Load (N) Mass loss (g)
Fe0.5%C 864.27 44.83 0.0206
Fe0.5%C2%Cu 431.80 44.83 0.0235
Fe0.5%C2%Mo 962.93 44.83 0.0183
734 T.K. Kandavel et al. / Materials and Design 50 (2013) 728736

25m 100m

(a) Fe-0.5%C (b)

10m

(c) Fe-0.5%C-2%Mo
Fig. 3. (a)(c) Microstructure of the sinterforged P/M alloy steels.

200m 200m

(a) Fe-0.5%C (b) Fe-0.5%C-2%Cu

100m

(c) Fe-0.5%C-2%Mo
Fig. 4. (a)(c) Optical wear images of the maximum wear surface of the P/M alloy steels.
 T.K. Kandavel et al. / Materials and Design 50 (2013) 728736
(a) Fe-0.5%C
(c) Fe-0.5%C-2%Mo
Fig. 5. (a)(c) SEM images of the maximum worn out surface of the P/M alloy steels.
soft ferriticpearlitic structure, the wear loss is observed to be
higher and uniform. This is evident from the uniform wear track
of the surface.
From Fig. 4b, it could be observed that surface wear in the case
of Cu-alloyed steel is not uniform. This steel is subjected to higher
mass loss, like the plain carbon steel. Thin oxide layers are identi-
ed as non-evenly distributed white patches in the image. Plasti-
cally deformed free pore copper is also observed at some places.
The bright particle-like patches observed in the image could be
the wear debris trapped within the pores [10]. Tongue-like struc-
tures observed in the image could be indications of metallic ow
of the material due to deformation [10]. The black patches appear-
ing in the image could be the removal of plateaux from the wear
surface [12].
Fig. 4c shows randomly distributed oxide layers are found as
white patches in the image. The bright areas of the surface are cov-
ered by a thick layer of on-surface oxide; on the other hand the
dark area in the other side of the surface the oxide layer would
have fallen off [10]. Wear debris occupying some places are also
visible in the image and these could have reduced the wear rate
of the alloy steel [11]. Mo alloyed steel is found to undergo mini-
mum wear loss during the test and corresponding frictional coef-
cient is higher. A deep deformed layer results in a high frictional
coefcient and high surface temperature, which in turn affects
the type of oxide generated [10]. The oxide layer formed in this al-
loy steel could be FeO due to high temperature [10]. Bright white
particles seen in the image could be Mo particulates, which could
further reduce wear loss and enhance the frictional coefcient in
the alloy steel.
Fig. 5ac show the SEM images of the maximum worn out sur-
faces during the wear tests of the P/M alloy steels.
735
(b) Fe-0.5%C-2%Cu
Uniformly distributed white oxide patches are observed in the
SEM image of the plain carbon steel. Trapped wear debris in the
open pores are also visible. Hard oxide layers due to high temper-
ature are seen to appear as a dark patches in the image [10].
Appearance of deep groove in the image due to the soft ferrite
microstructure conrms the enhanced wear rate of the carbon
steel. In the case of Cu alloyed steel, thin oxide layer is found to ap-
pear as bright white colored regions [10]. Wear debris trapped in-
side the open pores are seen at few places (Fig. 5b). Delaminated
plateaux (oxide akes) are found to appear as grey patches in the
image [19]. Free pore copper phase, which is found to be responsi-
ble for reduction in wear rate, is seen as white patches in the
micrograph. The SEM images of both carbon and Cu alloyed steels
are almost similar in appearance, as they are subjected to higher
wear rate and nominal frictional coefcient.
It is clearly evident from the SEM image of Mo alloyed steel
(Fig. 5c) that the layered appearance shows the removal of akes
due to delamination process [11]. The trapped wear asperities in
the open pores, found in some places, signicantly enhance the
wear resistance of the alloy steel [11]. Appearance of tongues at
some places in the SEM image could be the effect of deep metallic
ow of materials due to deformation, which could further contrib-
ute to the reduction of wear rate of alloy steel and consequently
enhance the friction at the interface [10].
4. Conclusions
The present research work has helped us understand the mech-
anism of sliding wear of sintered low alloy steels containing Cu and
Mo. The following important conclusions could be drawn from the
wear experiments on the alloy steels:
736 T.K. Kandavel et al. / Materials and Design 50 (2013) 728736
(1) Addition of alloying elements to Fe0.5%C alloy steel system
is found to enhance the wear resistance.
(2) Plain carbon steel (Fe0.5%C) is subjected to higher wear loss
and has lower frictional coefcient due to the presence of
soft ferrites and pearlites in the microstructure.
(3) Plain carbon steel alloyed with Cu could be expected to be
useful for high speed applications, as this steel exhibits
reduced wear rate at higher load and speed due to the trans-
formation of wear mechanism from delaminative to
oxidative.
(4) Addition of Mo to the plain carbon steel is found to improve
the wear resistance of the alloy steel due to hard phase car-
bides and particulates of Mo.
(5) Delamination is found to be a common mode of wear for car-
bon and alloy steels.
(6) Mo alloyed steel is subjected to non-uniform surface wear
due to the presence of hard particulates, while the plain car-
bon steel is found to undergo uniform wear due to the soft
nature of the ferriticpearlitic micro structure.
Acknowledgements
The authors are highly indebted to M/s Hoganas India Ltd., Pune
and M/s Ausbury Graphite Mills, USA, for their kind gesture in pro-
viding iron and graphite powders for the present research work.
The authors express their sincere gratitude to Prof. R. Sethuraman,
Vice Chancellor, SASTRA University for granting permission to pub-
lish their research work. We thank M/S Shanmugha precision for-
gings, a unit of SASTRA University for their support in this
research work.
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