Weld cladding of low carbon steel with high chromium - high carbon electrodes and evaluation of the microstructure and wear behavior

In this research the wear behavior of low carbon steel cladded by high Cr- high C electrodes was studied. For this purpose, two types of high Cr- high C electrodes were selected and deposited on the St37 steel by SMAW. Then microstructure, microhardness and wear behavior of the alloyed surfaces was investigated. The results show that high chromium content is not the main reason of wear resistance modifying in clad layer but presence of the optimized composition of chromium and carbide- forming elements would result in the effective increasing of wear resistance. For instance, presence of Nb and Mo in high chromium electrodes, not only produce NbC carbides and (Fe,Cr,Mo)7C3 fish bone type carbides, but also modify the carbides morphology, hardness and wear behavior. The high Cr- high C coatings have outstanding wear resistance and low coefficient of friction under room temperature dry sliding wear test condition.