Three-body abrasive wear behavior of iron matrix composite reinforced with cemented carbide particles

The high-Cr white cast iron (WCI) matrix composite reinforced with recovered cemented carbide (CC) particles was prepared by the vacuum infiltration casting process. The interfacial structure between CC particle and the iron matrix was analyzed with optical microscope and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Owing to partial dissolution of the CC particles and diffusion of the elements such as W, C, Co and Fe, the compounds such as Fe₃W₃C and Co₃W₃C were formed in the interface, which ensured metallurgical bonding in the interface. The wear behavior of the fabricated composite was investigated on the three-body abrasive wear tester. The results show that the test included four stages, the worn volume of the composite decreased firstly until reached the minimum at the third stage, then increased, and the worn volume increased with the increase of abrasive particle size. Compared with the heat-treated high-Cr WCI and the WC/high-Cr WCI composite, the worn volume of the fabricated composite was much lower than the former, but did not significantly differ from the later.