Aqueous abrasive wear of 8620 borided steel

The abrasive wear of 8620 borided steel under aqueous conditions was investigated. Bonding thermochemical treatment of the steel specimens was carried out at 900°C for 4 h in order to increase hardness and wear resistance. In these experiments, a suspension of silica sand (1.5 dm³) and water (0.94 dm³), was employed as a very agressive abrasive wear agent.The tribometer used in the abrasion tests, of the wet-sand/rubber-wheel type, was designed and constructed by the first three authors according to the ASTM G-105 specification. Weight loss of borided specimens was measured as a function of the number of cycles, and the sliding distance. These results are discussed and compared with those obtained for non-borided specimens. Significant improvement in the wear resistance of the borided steel were observed when compared to the non-borided one.