The study investigated novel wear and corrosion resistance of stainless steel and 316 stainless steel samples which were successfully prepared by laser melting deposition. Phase composition, microstructure, microhardness, wear resistance, and electrochemical corrosion resistance were studied. The experimental results showed that novel stainless steel was mainly composed of α-Fe and a few carbide phase (Cr, Fe)7C3. The microhardness of novel stainless steel was about 2.7 times greater than 316 stainless steel. Meanwhile, the specific wear rate of novel stainless steel and 316 stainless steel was 2.63 × 10−5 mm3/N m and 1.63 × 10−4 mm3/N m, respectively. The wear volume of 316 stainless steel was 6.19 times greater than novel stainless steel. The corrosion current and the corrosion potential of novel stainless steel and 316 stainless steel were 1.02 × 10−7 A/cm2 and 1.5 × 10−7 A/cm2, and −138.8 mV, −135.9 mV, respectively, in 3.5 wt% NaCl solution. Therefore, both microhardness and wear resistance of novel stainless steel were greatly improved, with high corrosion resistance.

In the current research, the application and capability of electric discharge treatment (EDT) for enhancing the cytocompatibility and tribological properties of medical-grade Co–Cr alloy were investigated. The Co–Cr specimens were treated by copper tungsten (Cu–W) electrode in a deionized water tank (dielectric medium) at different spark energy levels. To examine the cytocompatibility of substrates, the MTT [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide] assay was performed to evaluate the substrate cell viability. Furthermore, the wear rate and coefficient of friction of the substrates were examined on a pin-on-disc tribometer. In vitro cytocompatibility results revealed that the % viability of the MG-63 cells on EDT sample was approximately two times improved compared with that on the untreated surface. The tribological results showed that the treated samples have better friction reducing properties and four times higher wear resistance compared with unmachined Co–Cr samples. The surface modification at 10 A current and 60 µs pulse on-time and 150 µs off-time were found as significant parameters in both assessments.

Seeking to improve the wear resistance of the Ti6Al4V (Ti64) alloy for biomedical applications, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and calcium phosphate (CaP) ceramics were added to Ti64 powder and successfully 3D-printed using a commercial laser engineered net shaping (LENS™) system. It was hypothesized that CNTs would allow for in situ carbide formation during laser processing, resulting in increased surface hardness. It was also hypothesized that CaPs would allow for protective tribofilm formation during wear, reducing material loss from wear-induced damage. Scanning electron microscopy images reveal defect-free microstructures with fine carbides evenly distributed, while X-ray diffraction confirms the presence of carbides without additional unwanted intermetallic phases. Vickers microhardness shows an increase in surface hardness in coatings containing both CNTs and CaPs. In vitro tribological studies found reduced coefficient of friction, reduced wear rates, and reduced metal ion-release concentrations in coatings containing both CNTs and CaPs. This study demonstrates the efficacy of CNTs and CaPs to improve wear resistance of Ti64 for potential applications in articulating surfaces of load-bearing implants.

The solidification microstructure, types of eutectic borocarbides, heat treatment properties and wear resistance of steel with x wt% B–0.4 wt% C–6.0 wt% Cr–4.0 wt% Mo–1.0 wt% Al–1.0 wt% Si–1.0 wt% V–0.5 wt% Mn (x = 1.0, 2.0, 3.0) have been investigated in this present study. The results indicate that the as-cast Fe–B–C alloy steel consists of pearlite, ferrite, and borocarbides M2(B,C) (M = Fe, Cr, Mo, V, Mn). After quenching or quenching and tempering treatment, ferrite and pearlite transform into martensite. With the increase of boron content, the macrohardness of alloys increases obviously while wear loss decreases. Borocarbides with chromium addition have good toughness and no cracks are observed on worn surfaces. The wear mechanism changes from micro-cutting accompanied with the spalling of borocarbides to single micro-cutting with the boron content rising.

In this study, surface texturing and hydrogenated amorphous carbon (a-C:H) diamond-like carbon (DLC) coating was combined to evaluate the coating performance at various temperatures in oil lubricated reciprocating sliding tests. Micro dimples were created by laser surface texturing on M2 steel using a Pico second laser. DLC coating was deposited by hybrid magnetron sputtering on textured substrates. Textured a-C:H showed stable coefficient of friction at 30, 80, and 125 °C compared to un-textured a-C:H. At 30 °C, graphitization was not observed for both textured and un-textured DLC coating. Graphitization was more pronounced in the case of un-textured a-C:H at 80 and 125 °C. Results show that, at all temperatures tested (30–125 °C), DLC textured samples showed higher wear resistance compared to un-textured DLC coating. The improvement in wear resistance can be explained by the lower graphitization of textured DLC coating. Lower graphitization in the case of textured DLC might be due to the wear particle capturing and lubricant retention ability of textures.

The alloyed layers were produced on Mg by heating the specimens in contact with pure Al powder or Al + Zn powder mixtures. The powder material acting as the source of diffusion elements was held under pressure during heating, and this led to the formation of thick, continuous layers in a short heating time (1 h). The layer formation process took place through partial melting at the substrate/powder interface. The Al-enriched layer was characterized by a eutectic structure composed of an Mg17Al12 intermetallic phase and a solid solution of Al in Mg. The Al/Zn-enriched layers produced from Al + 20% Zn and Al + 40% Zn powder mixtures consisted of Mg17(Al,Zn)12 and Mg5Al2Zn2 and a solid solution of Al and Zn in Mg. The alloyed layers had higher hardness and better wear resistance than the Mg substrate. The results of the polarization measurements show that the Al- and the Al/Zn-enriched layers provide a certain level of protection to Mg against corrosion.

The influence of aging treatment on shape memory effect (SME) and wear resistance of Fe–20Mn–5Si–10Cr–5Ni–0.7V–0.2N (mass%) alloy was investigated. Results showed that vanadium nitride (VN) particles precipitated during aging treatment, and the amount and size of the particles increased with increasing aging time. The sample aged for 8 h exhibited the maximal shape recovery ratio of 74% (compared with that of 16% for unaged) and favorable wear resistance in both dry wear and oil-lubricant wear conditions. The fine VN particles are the key factor to improve the SME by strengthening the alloy and acting as preferential nucleation sites for martensite. However, more and larger particles due to further aging treatment appeared to have negative effects on the SME and wear resistance. After oil-lubricant friction, there existed large amounts of friction-stress-induced ε martensite in the worn surface of the sample. As a result, the wear resistance of samples in oil-lubricant wear condition was remarkably higher than that in dry wear condition.

In this study, the effect of titanium addition on the microstructure and wear behavior ofHadfield steel was investigated. To do so, four groups of samples with different titaniumcontents of 0, 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6 wt% were prepared. After casting, the samples wereaustenitized at 1100 °C for 3h and quenched in water subsequently for solution treatment. Themicrostructure of the samples was investigated using an optical microscope (OM) andscanning electron microscope (SEM). For more studies the carbide composition was analyzedvia energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDX). A wear test was performed via a pin-on-disk weartesting machine. The results show that after heat treatment the microstructure of thetitanium-free sample is fully austenitic, while the other samples show an austeniticstructure with non-continuous carbide precipitates. It was also revealed that titaniumaddition improves the hardness and wear resistance of the samples. The highest wearresistance was observed in the sample with 0.6 wt% titanium content. It was also shownthat the predominant wear mechanisms are adhesive and tribo-chemical. Beyond this, theeffect of cold working via a hammering treatment was studied on the samples and revealedthat austenite-to-martensite transformation improves the hardness and wear resistancesignificantly.

For every mill the ideal roll can be considered as one that can be used in a mill stand indefinitely. Unfortunately for the roll user, such ideal rolls do not exist. One major reason for work roll changes (planned or unplanned) is “wear”. In the context of cold rolling and temper rolling, “wear” primarily refers to loss of roughness and/or surface texture. Another limitation to roll performance is the fact that mill incidents – minor as well as major incidents – inflict damage on the work rolls, requiring redressing in the roll shop. If a major defect is present in a forged roll, e.g. due to a mill incident, catastrophic roll failure may occur in a violent, explosive manner. Improvement of the value-in-use of a work roll implies a superior wear resistance, a superior damage resistance, and elimination of the safety risks associated with explosive roll failures. In order to deal with this in a concerted R&D approach, a consortium of two roll users in the steel industry, a leading roll manufacturer, a high-tech supplier of roll damage detection equipment, and specialised research institutes have joined forces. Cold rolling trials have been performed, using pilot mills as well as industrial mills, with both novel forged HSS work rolls and conventional forged 3–5%Cr steel work rolls. Separate trials have been designed to focus on either the aspect of roughness evolution or damage resistance. Complementary data from various laboratory tests and industrial mill and roll shop data have been collected. Models have been developed for damage evolution in a roll, and for roughness evolution of the roll surface. In addition, novel non-destructive detection systems and sensors have been designed and tested. This paper provides a concise overview of the results achieved.

The general possibility of the extended (∼30 cm) closed-drift ion source application for deposition of wear-resistant amorphous hydrogenated carbon (a-C:H) films on large-area dielectric substrates, in particular, on carbon-fiber plastic, is shown. Parameters of the “ion” and the “plasma” regimes of the ion source operation in argon and methane are defined. It is shown that the ion current nonuniformity is in the range of ±5–15% depending on the operation mode. Optimum conditions for the substrate precleaning in argon and hard, well-adhered a-C:H films deposition from methane are determined. The films are characterized by high hardness (∼11 GPa) and low surface roughness (∼0.13 nm) that leads to a several times lower friction coefficient (0.05) and wear rate (0.001 μm3m−1N−1) compared to glass and carbon-fiber plastic substrates.

Nanoscale multilayered (superlattice) hard coatings can be manufactured in a plastic hardness range (HP) between 25GPa and 55 GPa by a combination of cathodic arc evaporation and unbalanced magnetron sputtering (arc bond sputter technology). Using large-scale industrial physical vapor deposition (PVD) equipment and a sufficiently high pumping speed, multilayered coatings can be deposited by simultaneously operating cathodes without special shutter and shielding facilities in a common reactive-gas atmosphere. The efficiency of the process is in many cases identical to that of TiN and CrN. Temperature-resistant, wear-resistant, and corrosion-resistant coatings of various compositions have been produced under industrial conditions. So far, the main applications concentrate on metal-forming and on cutting die steel, Inconel, stainless steel, and titanium. Applications have also been found in the chemical, textile, medical, and automotive industries.