Abstract:
Vanadium produces the hardest carbides and can influence wear
properties positively. However, due to the minerals’ price fluctuations as a result
of the current economic climate, vanadium is currently expensive and seldom
used in wear resistant materials despite its valuable properties. Nevertheless, it is
still important to study the effects of vanadium carbides on wear properties and
later compare the cost/durability ratio to the other currently used industrial alloys.
Vanadium has been used as a secondary alloying element in high chromium cast
iron and has produced positive results through the influence of orientation and
morphology of the eutectic carbide M7C3. Vanadium carbides are known to be
discontinuous, which is helpful with regards to impact properties. Vanadium
carbides alone cannot maintain high macro-hardness values and for improved
results carbon is needed to increase the strength of the matrix. In this paper, the
influence of the soaking and tempering temperatures on hardness and wear
properties in a high vanadium alloy, 1.91C-0.82Mn-0.96Si-0.90Ni-1.35Cr-
0.25Mo-6.12V, were investigated. The soaking temperatures were 1150 and
1250°C while the tempering temperatures were varied at 100°C interval from 300
°C to 600 °C. It was found that soaking at 1250°C increased the amount of retained austenite, but at the same time also improved the wear resistance in as
quenched condition as well as after tempering up to 500 °C.
