Analysis of Abrasive Wear Characterization and its Correlation with Structure for Low and Medium Carbon Steels

In most of the engineering applications, such as mining, metallurgy, agriculture; equipments are failed by the abrasive wear. The data as obtained form ministry of Research and Technology indicates that the percentage cost of abrasive wear in federal republic of German in metallurgy industry is 40%, mining industry 30%, agriculture 20% and production engineering 10%, and so the material selection is largely controlled by adequate selection of material and cost effectiveness. The most common material being used at present in India in metallurgical mining and agricultural industries is a plain carbon steel. Particularly mild steel is widely used in agricultural agro machinery industries for the fabrication of agricultural equipment and critical parts, and therefore which wears fast when subjected to high load and abrasive conditions. The present work has been devoted to access the suitability of adequate material properties and structure for agricultural industries. The En 8 is a plain medium carbon steel, En 19 and En 24 is a medium carbon low alloy steels containing molybdenum and chromium in different amount (up to 5% in total) . These steels are cost effective and easily available in local markets in all shapes and dimensions. Moreover their properties can be improved by simple heat treatment. The selected steels were heat treated and their mechanical and Tribological properties have been accessed for their suitability for agro machinery industries. The Tribological properties have been quantitatively estimated by three body abrasion test set-up which is Flex make as per standard specifications of American society of testing materials (ASTM), where the wear caused by abrasive trapped between the two moving surfaces.