EFFECTS OF CARBON, TUNGSTEN, AND VANADIUM ON THE MICROSTRUCTURE, HIGH-TEMPERATURE WEAR PROPERTIES, AND SURFACE ROUGHNESS OF HIGH SPEED STEEL ROLLS

Abstract

A study was conducted on the effects of carbon, tungsten, and vanadium on the wear properties and surface roughness of four High Speed Steel (HSS) rolls manufactured by the centrifugal casting method. Hot-rolling simulation tests were carried out using a high-temperature wear tester capable of controlling speed, load, and temperature. HSS rolls contained a large amount (up to 25 vol.%) of carbides such as MC, M2C, M7C3, and M6C carbides formed in the tempered martensite matrix. The matrix consisted mainly of lath tempered martensite when the carbon content in the matrix was small, and contained a considerable amount of plate tempered martensite when the carbon content increased. The high-temperature wear test results indicated that the wear properties and surface roughness of the rolls improved when the amount of hard MC carbides formed inside solidification cells increased. The rolls distribution was also homogeneous. The best wear properties and surface roughness were obtained from a roll where a large amount of MC carbides was homogeneously distributed in the lath tempered martensite matrix. The proper contents of carbon equivalent, tungsten equivalent, and vanadium were 2.0 similar to 2.3%, 9 similar to 10%, and 5 similar to 6%, respectively.