Effect of nickel alloying on corrosion and wear resistance of the strain-induced martensitic transformable wear resistant Fe-20Cr-1.7C-1Si alloy

Abstract
The strain-induced martensitic transformable wear resistant Fe-20Cr-1.7C-1Si alloy was investigated with regard to its corrosion and wear behavior with variations in nickel content. Although an amount of 10 wt.% nickel was not enough to form the passive layers on the surface of the alloys, it was clearly explained that the presence of nickel in the alloy is beneficial to corrosion resistance in the saline medium. Meanwhile, 3 and 5 wt.% nickelcontaining alloys were almost retained the excellent wear resistance of the nickel-free alloy during the wear test up to 2000 cycles. However, that of 7 and 10 wt.% nickel-containing alloys were abruptly deteriorated due to lowering the hardness of matrix and being insignificant the role of strain-induced martensitic transformation. Results of the study suggest that the nickel addition was apparently attributable to be beneficial effect on the corrosion resistance of the alloy. However, it was shown that the wear resistance of the alloy contained above 5 wt.% nickel was remarkably deleterious. Thus, it was demonstrated that 5 wt.% nickel was the proper quantity which is able to improve corrosion resistance without the loss of wear resistance for the Fe-20Cr-1.7C-1Si alloy at room temperature in air.