Mechanical and dry sliding wear behavior of ultrafine-grained AISI 1024 steel processed using multiaxial forging

AISI 1024 steel was severely deformed by using warm (500 °C) multiaxial forging (MAF) technique using up to nine forging passes in order obtain a composite ultrafine grained (UFG) microstructure consisting of fragmented cementite particles. Microstructural evolution is studied using optical and electron microscopy. After warm MAF, the hardness and strength properties improved significantly, although total elongation values decreased. The tribological properties of UFG low carbon steel produced by MAF have been investigated. Dry sliding was carried out using constant sliding speed. The wear test results showed that the strengthening of AISI 1024 steel by warm MAF processing did not lead to improvement of wear resistance. The results are explained on the basis of its microstructural features and lower pull-off work. Higher grain boundary density, presence of submicron-sized cementite particles, and lower pull-off work are found to be responsible for lower sliding wear resistance of UFG steel.