Microstructure, interfacial bonding, and abrasive wear properties of Fe-based composites reinforced with oxide ceramic particles

ZTA ceramic particle-reinforced high-manganese steel (ZTA_P/HMS) composites were fabricated via pressureless infiltration casting with engineered interfaces. A Ni-Mo coating was deposited on ZTA particles by electroless co-deposition to enhance wettability and promote interfacial bonding. The effects of deposition parameters, including temperature, pH, and plating time, on coating morphology and growth behavior were systematically investigated. A dense and uniform Ni-Mo coating was obtained under optimized conditions (80 °C, pH 10, and 5 h), significantly improving interfacial integrity. During composite fabrication, a continuous interfacial transition layer composed of metallic and silicate phases formed through multi-element interdiffusion, enabling the transformation from mechanical interlocking to metallurgical bonding. Heat treatment further induced elemental homogenization and solid-solution strengthening in the high-manganese steel matrix. As a result, the composites exhibited significantly enhanced hardness and wear resistance compared with the unreinforced matrix. The wear resistance of the composite is increased by 3.65 times under SiO₂, and 2.71 times under SiC abrasives. The enhanced performance is attributed to the synergistic effects of ceramic load bearing, interfacial strengthening, and microstructural optimization, providing a feasible strategy for designing advanced wear-resistant composites through the interfacial engineering of ceramic reinforcement.