| Abstract | This work investigates the effect of vanadium carbide (VC) content and bulk hardness on the low angle impingement/scouring erosion of tool steels. Five grades of CPM xV (x = 1, 3, 9, 10, and 15) tool steels have been studied using a Coriolis erosion tester with a slurry of 10 wt% AFS 50–70 silica sand in water. The results showed that the scouring erosion resistance of the steels increases with increase in VC volume fraction and the increase is much more rapid when the volume fractions of VC are greater than ∼12%. On the other hand, the erosion resistance is mostly independent of material hardness. Wear scars were examined using scanning electron microscopy and laser profilometry. It was found that the standout wear protection effect of the fine VC carbides became more pronounced in steels with VC volume fractions higher than ∼12%. In these steels, the contribution of the microcutting mechanism decreased drastically with increase in VC volume fraction, with the grooving depth being reduced by about 4 times in CPM 15V as compared with the steel containing the lowest VC volume fraction (CPM 1V). |
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