Sliding wear studies of microwave clad versus unclad surface of stainless steel 304

Abstract

Abstract. Small and large scale (gas power plant, hydro power plant), automobile industries are suffering by failure of component. Sometimes, it is also observed that the component which was failed due to these reasons are very much costly and replacement of those also very difficult due to the complex geometry. By using Microwave hybrid heating, WC-12Co based clads were developed on austenitic stainless steel (SS304). Microwave clads were developed by introducing the preplaced, preheated powder for a duration of 15 min to microwave radiation at 2.45GHz frequency and 900 W power in domestic microwave applicator. By using optical microscope and scanning electron microscope (SEM), the developed clads were characterized. By using pin-on-disk, wear performance of the WC-12Co based clads and unclad samples were tested. It is observed that developed clad samples performed superior wear resistance than unclad samples.