Abrasive Wear Studies of Pack Cyanided Mild Steel (PCMS)

Abstract

This work aimed at using processed cassava leaves to pack cyanide mild steel (MS) under different treatment conditions and investigating the wear properties of the pack cyanided mild steel (PCMS). Pack cyaniding (PC) of a MS was achieved using processed cassava leaves powder with BaCO3 as energizer in the heat treatment process. Four different powder particle sizes were utilized at four different temperatures (750oC, 800oC, 850oC and 900oC) and soaked for 3 hours. In this present work, the microstructures of the un-treated sample and PCMS were characterized to know the cases formed. The abrasive wear tests of the PCMS were carried out using a pin-on-disk wear tester against untreated mild steel pin having a hardness of 197.5 VHN. The PMSs wear properties were evaluated, using abrasive velocity of 0.26 m/s, normal load of 20 N, total abrasive distance of 156 m and controlled room temperature of 25 ◦C. The effect of particle size (212, 300, 600 and 850 μm) on the hardness and wear properties of a series of PCMS treated at different temperatures has been studied in this work. Case hardness was observed to decrease with a decrease in particle size and decreasing pack cyaniding temperature (PCT). Results revealed that the case hardness of the heat treated steels is related to the pack cyaniding temperature and the particle size used. The PCT of mild steel in cyaniding boat has a significant effect on the case hardness of the steel. Also, the wear test results indicated that the wear rate of treated mild steel increases with increasing PCT and particle size. The study concluded that case hardness and wear resistance of mild steel parts could be improved by pack-cyaniding in pulverized dry cassava leaves.