The effect of the borosintering process in iron-based materials on abrasive and sliding wear

Abstract

Boriding is usually performed separately after sintering in powder metallurgy methods. In the borosintering process, sintering and boriding processes are carried out simultaneously. This saves energy as it shortens the heat treatment time. Additionally, since the heat treatment are shorter in time, it prevents problems that may occur in the materials subjected to this heat treatment. Thanks to the borosintering, boriding is also done on parts produced with powder metallurgy without the need for any extra processing. In this work, iron-based samples were made using powder metallurgy routes. And then, sintering and boronizing processes were applied individually to some samples and simultaneously to others (borosintering). Boriding processes were conducted in solid media (20% B4C, 5% NaF, 75% SiC). Boriding, sintering and borosintering processes were conducted at 950, 1000, and 1050 °C for four hours. SEM was used to investigate the morphology of the produced boride layers, EDX was used to examine the elemental composition, and XRD was used to examine the phases. It is observed that when the temperature rises, the layer thickness increases. It was discovered that the sintered samples were mostly Fe, while the boronized samples were predominantly Fe2B. The microhardness of the boride layers was measured. Additionally, the samples were then subjected to sliding and abrasive wear tests. The hardness values of the boride layer made at 1000 °C and 1050 °C were higher than those at 950 °C. Borosintered samples have been found to be resistant to both sliding and abrasive wear. Borosintered samples, as well as sintered and borided samples, demonstrated similar characteristics. Regarding the process steps and costs, it was determined that the borosintering technique would provide an enormous benefit.