The effect of cold treatments on the lubricated wear of case hardened components

Abstract

Most studies on the effects of cold treatment on the wear of steels have been carried out on tool steels.
Although carburised components are also routinely cold treated at –70ºC to remove excessive retained
austenite, there are few data on how this treatment affects lubricated wear. Nor are there many reports on the
effect of extended deep cold treatments at –196ºC and below on the wear of carburised components, although
these treatments are known to greatly improve the wear performance of tool steels. The results of wear testing
on steels after a wide range of thermochemical treatments using a pin-on-disk technique have already been
reported. The same testing technique was used to obtain comparable results after additional cold treatment.
A carburising steel – 20MnCr5– was carburised using typical industrial cycles and then subjected to a range
of cold treatments. This paper reports the effects of these treatments on lubricated wear.