Abstract

SUAREZ, J. L; SUAREZ, X. I  and  CONTRERAS, R. R. COMPORTAMIENTO DE 3 FAMILIAS DE ACEROS INOXIDABLES ANTE SOLICITUDES TRIBOLÓGICAS DE ABRASIÓN Y EROSIÓN . Rev. LatinAm. Met. Mat. [online]. 2001, vol.21, n.2, pp.74-80. ISSN 0255-6952.

The extensive use of stainless steels in industries such as petrochemical, chemical, food, nuclear, biotechnological, medico-pharmaceutical, and others compels the correct selection of the material to be used. Until recent years the selection of a specific trademark of stainless steel for a given application only took into consideration the following factors: corrosion resistance, mechanical strength, ease of parts construction, and, of course, costs. However, the exploitation and environmental conditions in the above-mentioned industries vary widely, and some tribological criteria into the selection of stainless steel together with the manufacturing costs are considered mainly in the developed countries. The present work deals with a comparative tribological study of three families of stainless steels -austenitic, martensitic, and Duplex- each case being represented by a type of stainless steel. In the case of Duplex steel, AISI 329 -recently available in the market- is used. In this paper the tribological characterization of steels in the presence of abrasive and erosive wear mechanisms is achieved, thereby allowing the comparison and definition of the field of application of these steels under the influence of such mechanisms. The relationships between wear rate and contact time during abrasive wear, as well as between incidence angle and wear rate during erosion at two particle-impact velocities are shown.

Keywords : Tribology; Stainless steels; Abrasive wear; Erosive wear.