PHASE TRANSFORMATION DURING WEAR OF AISI STAINLESS STEEL 316

Abstract: Austenitic stainless steels exhibit a low hardness and weak tribological properties. The wear behaviour of austenitic stainless steel AISI 316 was evaluated through the pin on disc tribological method. For investigating the effect of wear on the changes in microstructure and resistance to wear, optical microscopy and scanning electron microscope were used. The hardness of the worn surfaces was measured with a micro-hardness tester. Worn surfaces were analyzed through X-ray diffraction. Results showed that with increasing the sliding distance and applied load, the austenite phase partially transformed to ά martensite, and there was no trace of ε phase detected. Due to the formation of probably hard and strong martensite phase, as the sliding distance and applied load increased, the hardness and the wear resistance of the material was increased. Wear mechanism was on the base of delamination and abrasion.