Abrasive wear resistance of thermal surfacing materials

for soil tillage applications

Senad Dizdar* and Barbara Maroli,
Höganäs AB, Global Development, Höganäs, Sweden
*E-mail: senad.dizdar@hoganas.com

Abstract This investigation ranks the abrasive wear resistance of some

A number of common thermal surfacing materials for soil till-
age applications were ranked for abrasive wear by dry–sand–
rubber–wheel testing according to ASTM G65. Focus was on
plasma transferred arc (PTA) and powder welding (PW) deposi-
tion consisting of a nickel based self-fluxing matrix with and
without additions of 50 or 60% tungsten carbide. For compari-
son PTA coated M2 tool steel and the quenched and tempered
wrought spring steels EN C75S and EN30MnB5 were also test-
ed. PTA and PW deposition techniques produced coatings with
a similar level of abrasive wear resistance. Hardfacing with M2
and a 60 HRC nickel based self-fluxing grade showed ~30%
and ~15% wear respective compared to the reference steels
while the grades with additions of 50% carbide phase showed
~5% wear compared to the reference steels. By increasing the
amount of tungsten carbide from 50 to 60 wt% abrasive wear
resistance was increased by 25%.
Introduction
common wrought Q&T (quenched and tempered) alloys and
MMC coatings containing tungsten carbide embedded in a nick-
el based matrix, according to ASTM G65. Fused and crushed
tungsten carbides (FTC) as well as recycled WC-7Co carbides
were investigated. The focus is on powder mixes deposited by
plasma transferred arc (PTA) and powder welding (PW)/puddle
torch.
Abrasive wear testing of soil tillage tools
Abrasive wear
Soil tillage tools are individual soil engaging elements often in
the form of a blade, a wing or a shank. They are exposed to
low–stress abrasive wear when the sand in the soil sweeps the
tool surface during a soil tilling operation but the sand itself will
not break down (Moore Ref. 2 and Horvat Ref. 3). To illustrate
tribological loading of the soil tillage tools, it may be advised to
start with Holm-Archard wear equation (Jacobson et al. Ref. 4)
(Eq. 1)

Sustainable agriculture demands cost effective farming opera- = (Eq. 1)

tions where fuel and tooling costs are of major concern. Tooling where V stands for the worn volume (mm3), S the sliding dis-
costs include not only the cost of tillage parts such as plough- tance (mm), K the wear coefficient (dimensionless), Fn the nor-
shares but also production time loss due to unnecessary stops mal load and H the hardness (MPa). The Eq.1 was primarily an
for tool change or the inability to reach a target tillage operation adhesive wear equation but it was found to be valid even for
at the proper time point. A substantial increase of tillage tool abrasive wear (Jacobson et al. Ref. 4), with the wear coefficient
life is gained by applying hard coatings to the wear exposed tool K described as in Eq. 2:
regions.
= ∙ (Eq. 2)
Investigations performed in Turkey (Bayhan Ref. 1) illustrate where kR stands for the removal factor and kF the form factor.
tillage tolling costs for the area of cultivated land in Turkey of The former is zero for micro-ploughing, one for micro-cutting
18.5·106 ha for one year. For example, the average tool weight and exceeds one for micro cracking. The latter shows sharpness
loss for chisel ploughshares was 23 to 40 g/ha, for ploughshares of the abradant and is a ratio of the scratching cut area and the
90 to 210 g/ha, for cultivator sweeps 60 to 120 g/ha and for har- load bearing area.
row tines 30 to 70 g/ha. The total amount of wear was estimated
to 5365 tons corresponding to a total loss of ~ 4.4 million USD. As seen in Eq. 1, wear of a tillage tool is proportional to load
and sliding distance but inversely proportional to hardness. Ap-
plied to field farming operations it may be seen as follows. A
© 2013 ASM International®.
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common tractor draws the tillage implement with a speed of 10
to 15 km/h. The tractor pulling load is divided between the tools
compacting, shearing and inverting of the soil. The sand parti-
cles slide (and/or roll) against the tool surface with a sliding ve-
locity corresponding 2.8 to 4.2 m/s. Energy intensive primary
tillage operations, such as plowing of previously non–cultivated
land or plowing after harvesting by a moldboard plow includes
deeper soil preparation and exposes the plow to relatively higher
loads and a relatively long period of time in contact with the
soil. In contrast, less energy intensive secondary tillage opera-
tions such as soil stirring by a harrow, after a primary tillage, is
a shallower soil preparation and exposes the harrow teeth to
moderate loads and a relatively short period of time in contact
with the soil.
Finally, soil is considered a solid medium in engineering appli-
cations. Thus, soil is a mixture of sand, slit and clay, after re-
moval of particles exceeding 2 mm (gravel and stones) by siev-
ing and organic matter – humus (Figure 1) (see unified soil
classification system, Ref. 5). The prevailing mineral in the
earth or soil is quartz or silica sand, SiO2, with hardness Mohs 7
or between 750 and 1200 HV. Depending on the geographic lo-
cation, the sand particles differ in chemical purity, size distribu-
tion and morphology. The latter is considered through particle
roundness, sphericity, aspect ratio and a parameter showing
sharpness, or concavity of the particle peripheral surface (Pabst
Ref. 6 ). The concavity was shown to describe abrasivity of the
sand (Swanson Ref. 7). Silica sand, AFS 50/70, mined in Otta-
wa, IL, USA, showed the highest abrasivity among a dozen
mined or crushed silica and soil samples.
0 USDA particle sizes:
100
- Clay < 0.002 mm
90
10
- Silt 0.002-0.05 mm
20
80
30
70
Clay
60
%)
on the characterization of the soil or sand samples (Figure 1).
Laboratory wear testing level by dry/wet-sand–rubber–wheel
tribometers is a fast accelerated testing, relatively low cost but
includes a high grade of abstraction and modeling where only
one or a few single well-defined parameters can be tested. Per-
sonnel highly skilled in tribology are also a demanded. All three
levels of abrasive wear testing have their place and importance
in the development of materials for tillage tools. The laboratory
wear testing cannot give the answers generated in the field test-
ing but can rank material wear resistance and narrow the num-
ber of materials aimed for the soil bin and/or field testing.
Laboratory wear testing performed here is DSRW testing ac-
cording to ASTM G65 (Ref. 9). It is a de facto industry standard
for ranking of low–stress abrasive wear resistance of engineer-
ing materials. Tool material samples are exposed to abrasive ac-
tion by the Ottawa silica sand brought into contact by a chloro-
butyl rubber lined steel wheel, see Figure 2. The virtual sliding
velocity is ~4.8 m/s which is quite close to sliding velocities in
soil tillage operations. Test load is 130 N and sliding distance is
4309 m for procedure A – aimed for materials with high abra-
sive wear resistance.
Coating by thermal surfacing for high wear resistance
Spring steels such as EN C75S or micro alloyed EN 30MnB5
steel in quenched and tempered, Q&T, condition are often a de-
fault material for tillage tools. However, their abrasive wear re-
sistance may not be sufficient for soils with relatively higher
sand content and the abrasivity of primary tillage operations.
Surface coating techniques such as tungsten inert gas welding
(TIG), metal inert gas welding (MIG), laser cladding, plasma
transferred arc (PTA) and powder welding (puddle torch) can be
used to multiply the abrasion wear resistance of the tillage tools.
The tool main body or substrate can be made of a weldable low
- Sand 0.05-2 mm carbon structural steel to withstand the stresses while the wear
resistance is achieved by overlay welding of hard materials to
abrasive wear exposed regions of the tool.
40

ASTM G65 DSRW testing, procedure A

Sil

50
y(

t (%

50
Cla

Silty San hopper

Sand
)

clay 60
Sandy Ott
Ottawa silica sand AFS 50/70
40 clay
Clay loam Silty clay 70
30 Sandy loam
clay loam Loam 80
20 (ideal garden
Load arm
soil) 90
Sandy
10 Lo loam Silty loam
sa amy Silt
Sand nd 100 200 RPM Weights
100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 6.75 kg
Sand (%) (13 N))
(130
Figure 1: Soil considered for engineering applications (Ref. 5)
Specimen
Total
Wear testing methods 6000 wheel rev.
Abrasive wear testing is done on various levels (Swanson Ref. CIIR-lined wheel
(4309 m sl. dist.)
(228,6 x 12.7 mm, 9”x 1/2”)
1). The most realistic and expensive level is of course field test-
Figure 2: Sketch of the abrasive tribometers for dry sand rubber
ing. Soil bin testing level offers a lower testing cost, includes
wheel wear testing according to ASTM-G65.
real tillage tools and a soil complexity but puts strong demands
Table 1: Nominal composition and description of thermal surfacing powder grades (Höganäs Ref. 14) and wrought materials used.
Designation Particle Composition (wt %)
range (µm) Typical hardness
C Co W Si B Fe Cr Ni Mn V
EN C75S (AISI 1075) NA 0.75 - - - Bal. - - <1 - 45 HRC
EN 30MnB5 (*AISI 15B35H) NA 0.30 - - - 0.005 bal. - - 1.2 - 49 HRC
M2 53-150 1.0 6.2 0.3 - bal. 4.0 0.3 2.0 63 HRC
Surfit 1560 53-150
0.75 - - 4.3 3.1 3.7 14.8 bal. - - 62 HRC/ 810 HV30
Surfit 1060 20-106
1559-40 53-150 ≤0.06 - - 3.0 2.9 - - bal. - - 49 HRC
PA2 45-106 5.7 7.5 bal. Recycled WC-7Co powder, angular form 2000 HV0.1
4070 36-106 Fused and crushed W2C-WC powder, angular form
4 - bal. 2300 HV0.1
4570 53-150 (FTC)
*Closest match.

Table 2: Description of the test samples and their manufacturing routes

Vol. % added carbide phase
Coat. thick. Last forming or machin- Hardness**
Material composition Method
(mm) ing / heat treatment
Powder mix Welded HV30 HRC
EN C75S Wrought steel - Cold rolling, Q&T NA NA 429 45
EN 30MnB5 Wrought steel - Grinding, Q&T NA NA 609 49
M2 PTA 2 mm Air cooling, grinding NA NA 761 62
Surfit 1560 PTA 2 mm Air cooling, grinding NA NA 809 62
Surfit 1060+ 50wt% PA2 PW 1 mm Air cooling, grinding 37 41 996 66
Surfit 1060+ 50wt% 4070 PW 1 mm Air cooling, grinding 40 40 1033 66
1559-40+50wt% 4570 PTA 2 mm Annealing in vermiculite, 40 32 730 59
1559-40+60wt% 4570 PTA 2 mm grinding 49 41 814 60
** Values with 50% probability according lognormal statistic distribution

Experiment The PTA specimen blanks, 200x60x20 mm plates, were overlay

Powders
Commercial powder mixes consisting of Ni- based self-fluxing
alloys and different types and amount of tungsten carbide were
selected for the investigation. Two different nickel based pow-
ders were tested depending on the deposition technique used,
one with a typical hardness of 62 HRC and one with a typical
hardness of 49 HRC. Fused and crashed WC/W2C carbides
(FTC) and recycled WC-7Co carbides were admixed to the
nickel based alloys. Powder properties are summarized in Table
1 and Table 2. For comparison the following materials were
tested: a PTA deposited tool steel, M2, a PTA coated nickel
based self-fluxing grade with no additions of tungsten carbide
and a typical hardness of 60HRC and the wrought spring steels
EN C75S and EN 30MnB5.
Thermal surfacing of the test specimen blanks
The powder mixes were deposited on test specimens blanks
made of “killed” structural mild carbon steel EN S235JRG2
(ASTM A570 Gr.36) by PW and PTA techniques.
The PW specimen blanks, 50x60x10 mm plates, were overlay
welded by using a Super Jet Eutalloy oxyacetylene torch. Prior
to welding the specimen surface was blasted with alumina sand
to facilitate bonding to the substrate and then it was covered
with a thin layer of coating to minimize oxidation of the sub-
strate during the subsequent pre-heating step. Pre-heating until
the surface achieved a light red colour corresponding to ~600ºC,
was carried out to ensure better bonding to the substrate materi-
al and to reduce the risk for cracks. Cooling was done in air.
welded by using a 200A Hettiger PTA unit. Prior to PTA coat-
ing, the specimen blanks were blasted with alumina sand to re-
move surface oxides and roughen the surface to ~6 µm in aver-
age roughness, Ra, to enable better bonding to the substrate. The
blanks were then pre-heated to 400ºC to reduce the risk for
cracking. After overlay welding the samples were cooled in a
bath containing vermiculite granules. Finally, the blanks were
cut and ground to 25x58x10 mm blocks to fit the specimen
holder in the abrasive tribometer. The overlay welded surface of
the specimens was ground to average roughness Ra of 0.3 µm.
Evaluation
Five specimens were tested and average volume loss, AVL, was
evaluated following ASTM G65. Then the five AVL data points
were analyzed by lognormal probability plot statistic technique
and AVL with 50% probability level estimated.
The samples were examined with respect to hardness HV30,
HRC and microstructure. Hardness was evaluated by doing be-
tween 8 and 12 indentations on each specimen per test material
composition. The hardness data was then analysed by using the
lognormal probability plot statistic technique. The values shown
are with 50% probability. Microstructure of the coatings was
analyzed in a light optical microscope, LOM, and scanning elec-
tron microscope, FEG-SEM equipped with a SDD-EDS detec-
tor.
 Results

Results of the wear testing according to ASTM-G65 are shown

in Figure 3. All coatings by grades containing carbide powder
achieved average volume wear, AVL, between 5 and 9 mm3, in
comparison with 31 mm3 for grade 1560, 58 mm3 for grade M2
and 200 and 189 mm3 respectively for the references EN C75S
and EN 30MnB5. Wear loss was due to abrasion removal of the
matrix followed by carbides when they were no longer sur-
rounded by the matrix. For the reference steels, ploughing was
evident, see Figure 4.

The PW coatings with grades containing carbide powder

achieved slightly lower wear in comparison to the PTA. This
could be due to the lower temperature of the PW process com- a) 1559-40 + 50% 4570, PTA
pared to PTA, and/or the different matrices used in the PW and
PTA coatings. The lower temperature of the powder welding
process caused less dissolution of the carbide particles at their
periphery. This is illustrated in Figure 4 showing that the FTC
has smoother edges after PTA coating than after PW. Typical
hardness of the matrix used in the PW coatings was 62 HRC
while that used in the PTA coatings was 49 HRC.

Abrasive wear is a function of the hardness only for similar

types of microstructure i.e. matrix and hard phase addition. For
PTA coatings with 1559-40 grade AVL decreased by about 10%
when the carbide content increased from 50% to 60%.

b) Surfit 1060 + 50% 4070, PW

Abrasive wear testing - ASTM G65, procedure A
120 1200

100 1000
200
Averaged volume loss AVL (mm 3 )

189

80 800
Hardness HV 30

58
60 600

40 400
31

20 200
9
c) 30MnB5
7 6 6
Figure 4: SEM photographs of the worn track of the specimens
0 0 as above.
5S

B5

70

70

70

M2

60
PA
45

45

40

15

Overview of the coating or clad, as observed in a light optical

Mn
C7

0%
0%

0%

0%
30

microscope, is shown in Figure 5. The carbides were evenly dis-

EN

+5
+5

+6

+5
EN

tributed in the samples used for wear testing. The PW samples

60
-40

60

PTA
-40

contained slightly more pores than the PTA ones, due to the
10

10

Powder welding
59

59

Wrought steel lower temperature of the process and more oxidizing environ-
15

15

ment. When adding the recycled WC-7Co carbides somewhat

Coated and reference samples, 25x58x10 mm
higher porosity was observed. This is a known phenomenon as
Figure 3: ASTM G65 average volume loss for five specimens
the recycled carbides are less pure than the WC/W2C FTC car-
with 50% probability by lognormal statistic and hardness HV30
bides and therefore more prone to gassing.
for the test samples.
a)1559-40+4570, PTA b)1060+4070, PW c)1060+4070, PW
Figure 5a, b, c: LOM micrographs showing an overview of the
investigated coatings at 50% WC/W2C FTC

In the case of the PTA welded samples the metal matrix selected
had no chromium and no carbon to avoid the formation of rela-
tively soft chromium carbides and limit the risk for crack for-
mation. The microstructure of the nickel based matrix, when
welded without additions of primary carbides is shown in Figure
6 and consists of austenitic primary dendrites (γ), γ-nickel bo-
ride eutectic and nickel boride-nickel silicide eutectic (Ref. 10).
When tungsten carbides were added, the microstructure of the
nickel based powder was modified. Due to the heat generated by
the PTA welding process partial dissolution of the primary
WC/W2C FTC took place (area 1, Figure 7a), followed by the
re-precipitation of tungsten rich carbides (area 2, Figure 7a)
mainly at the surface of the primary carbides. EDS analysis was
used to estimate the chemistry of the interface area of the sec-
ondary carbides and of the matrix. The results, presented in Ta-
ble 3, showed that the secondary carbides (2) were rich in W but
also contained Ni indicating it could be ƞ-W3Ni3C carbides.

The matrix chosen for the PW coatings, shown in Figure 6, con-

taining both chromium and carbon was harder, typically 62
HRC, than the one used for PTA hardfacing (typically HRC).
The microstructure of the matrix was complex and consisted of
primary austenitic dendrites, nickel borides, nickel silicides,
chromium carbides and chromium borides (Ref. 10).
a) 1559-40, PTA b) Surfit 1060, PW
Figure 6 a,b): LOM micrographs of the matrix etched in Ni-1.
Figure 7: SEM-BSE photos showing different degree of degra-
dation of the tungsten carbides in a)1559-40+50%4570, PTA;
b)Surfit1060+50%4070, PW; c)Surfit1060+50%PA2, PW
Similarly to the PTA welded samples partial dissolution of the
primary WC/W2C FTC, occurred at their periphery, however
due to the lower heat input of the PW process, when compared
to PTA, the affected area was smaller as shown in Figure 7b.
Re-precipitation of secondary carbides containing W took place
at the border of the primary FTC carbides and in the matrix.
Two types of W-containing carbides were observed, light grey
(2) and black (4). EDS analysis of the light grey carbides
showed they contained mainly W while the black ones (4) con-
tained primarily Cr. The W-rich carbides were overall coarser
than in the PTA welded samples, due to the lower cooling rate
of the powder welding process and the different chemistry of • By increasing the amount of carbides admixed to 1559-40
the matrix containing Cr and higher C and B content. When us- from 50 to 60 wt% abrasive wear decreased by ~25%.
ing recycled WC-7Co carbides their periphery looked only mar- • PW samples with carbide additions had a higher overall hard-
ginally affected. However, EDS analysis showed that both co- ness; therefore a full comparison with the PTA coated samples
balt and tungsten were dissolved in the matrix and re- cannot be done.
precipitated as light grey W-rich (2) and black Cr-rich second- • PTA and PW deposition techniques produce coatings with
ary carbides (Ref. 10). Overall the secondary carbides were less similar abrasive wear resistance levels. PTA however appears
in number and smaller in size than in the samples admixed with to be an opportune choice for serial production and PW for
the FTC carbides. Further EDS analysis showed the presence of maintenance on a smaller scale.
Ni in the original WC-Co primary carbides.
Acknowledgements
Table 3: Chemical composition of areas in Figure 7.
Coating Area wt% The authors wish to thank Mr. Lars-Åke Nilsson and Mrs. Patri-
Si Cr Fe Co Ni W
cia Jansson for their valuable comments in preparation of this
1-Interface - - - - 15 85 manuscript.
1559-40
2-Grey carb - - - - 12 88
+ 50% 4570 (FTC)
3-Matrix 1 2 - 81 16
References
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