Wear Properties of the Surface Alloyed AISI 1020 Steel with Vanadium and Boron by TIG Welding Technique

It is now well known that surface alloying caused improvement in the mechanical/chemical properties of near surface regions of materials. In the present study, surface alloying treatment with boron, vanadium and iron on the AISI 1020 steel was realized by the technique of TIG welding. Ferrous boron, ferrous vanadium and Armco iron were used for surface alloying treatment. Before the treatment, ferrous alloys were ground and sieved to be smaller than 38 μm. The powders were mixed to be composed of $Fe_{15 - x}V_{x}B_5$, where x = 1, 3, and 5 (by at.). Prepared powders were pressed on the steel substrate and melted by TIG welding for surface alloying. Coated layers formed on the steel substrate were investigated using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis and Vickers microhardness testers. It was shown that the surface alloyed layer has a composite structure including steel matrix and eutectic borides. Wear tests of the surface alloyed AISI 1020 steels were realized against WC-Co ball using ball-on-disk method.