Microstructural aspects of abrasive wear of composite powder materials and coatings

Depending on the materials structure and properties as well as on wear conditions, the behaviour of various materials (ductile and brittle) at abrasive wear is different. Our studies are focused on different heterogeneous tribological powder materials and coatings of hardmetal-type and metal-matrix structure with mono- and multimodal reinforcement as well on homogeneous conventional steels in abrasive wear applications. To characterise the hardness of composite materials, hardness measurements in different scales (from nano to macro) were performed. Results of abrasive wear tests (solid particle erosion and impact wear) with abrasives of particle size from some hundreds of micrometres to ten millimetres are discussed. Dependences of wear properties (wear resistance and wear mechanisms) at abrasive erosion and impact wear on the microstructure and micromechanical properties are described. Selection criteria (microstructural, qualitative and tribological) of materials and coatings are proposed.