Dry sliding wear behavior of Fe-Cr-C-B hardfacing alloy modified with nano-CeO2 and its mechanisms of modification

Abstract This paper studied the wear resistance of Fe-Cr-C-B hardfacing alloy modified with nano-CeO2 and revealed its mechanisms of modification. The microstructure, coefficient of friction, wear rate, wear track and wear debris of the hardfacing specimens were studied. The results showed that the hardfacing specimens with 0.288wt.% and 0.432wt.% nano-CeO2 had better wear resistance. Nano-CeO2 promoted the heterogeneous nucleation of primary carbide by forming compound containing Ce, O and S, improving the wear resistance and bending strength of the hardfacing specimen. The addition of nano-CeO2 decreased the amount of MnS and improved the distribution and shape of inclusions by forming new rare earth compound inclusions. Excessive nano-CeO2 had no obvious effect on the refinement of primary carbide, even though new rare earth compound inclusions formed which was favorable to the bending strength improvement but unhelpful for the wear-resistance improvement.