Abstracts Category : Other

The relationship between hardness and wear performance of particle reinforced composite alloys

by Muhammad Kemal Aditia

The principal aim of this project is to evaluate if hardness is a reliable indicator to measure wear performance for particle reinforced composite alloys. This was based on previous research conducted by Kagawa, Kawashima, and Ohta (1992), where it was stated that hardness is not a reliable indicator to measure wear performance. The analysis is made by correlating microstructural information with hardness and wear test result. The Fe-alloy samples microstructures have been evaluated using light and electron microscopy to obtain a full understanding of the microstructural development with the change in simple composition and heat treatment. The CVF increases as the Cr and C concentrations increase. The CVF was confirmed using ImageJ. After heat treatment eutectic matrix around the primary dendrites is converted to a dual austenite and martensite phase. Hardness test were done for the as-cast and heat treated samples. Both the as-cast sand heat treated sample show a typically linear trend with increase in CVF, even though the hardness for heat treated samples were larger. As such, the dependence of hardness on CVF exist. The behaviour of hardness is linear to the change of CVF regardless of additional hardness provided by the heat treated samples. The wear resistant also increases linearly with the increase of CVF. From the results, it is shown that hardness is considered to be a good indicator of wear performance particularly within the range of 17-42% CVF. Therefore, this does not necessarily disprove Kagawas statement but rather opening up a new understanding with regards to the relationship between hardness and wear performance of particle reinforced composite alloys.