Microstructure, simulation, and wear resistance of grey cast iron with varying microhardness combination processed by bionic laser technology
摘要
The soft–hard combined structures involving varying microhardness on the specimen surface of grey cast iron, processed by bionic laser technology, exhibit excellent wear resistance under dry sliding condition. Both the primary phase (PP) and the laser-treated phase (LP) play pivotal roles in the wear performance of grey cast iron, in association with various combinations of PP and LP microhardness, originating from different laser processing and heat treatment. Owing to the optimized combination of microhardness, the result exhibits the dominant role of LP, with higher microhardness, in wear test, indicating that this technology, apart from producing complex structures, can also act as a design-process method to modify the tribological properties of grey cast iron, and thus providing a feasible approach to tailor the surface microhardness and to modify the wear performance of grey cast iron. Moreover, a threshold of wear resistance is obtained, while LP microhardness is above 900 HV; meanwhile, beyond it, the change of PP microhardness has only minor impact on wear performance. Finite element analysis shows that, in line with varying microhardness combination, distinct stress distribution on specimen surface is achieved, agreeing well with the good wear resistance and tailorable microhardness of LP and PP.