Effect of hot forging on microstructure and abrasion resistance of Fe-B alloy

The effect of hot forging on the microstructure and abrasion resistance of Fe-B alloy was studied. The results showed that boride networks are broken down by hot forging. After hot forging, the hardness of Fe-B alloy increased marginally, and the toughness increased considerably. In the two-body abrasion test, unforged Fe-B alloy exhibited excellent wear resistance and soft abrasive tended to show higher wear resistance. When alloys were tested against very hard abrasives, the wear resistance of forged Fe-B alloy was similar to that of unforged Fe-B alloy, but in the case of soft abrasives the wear resistance of forged Fe-B alloy was lower than that of unforged Fe-B alloy.