Assessment of the reliability of hardfacings for soil rippers

Abstract

The results of a laboratory investigation (chemical composition, microstructure, hardness, wear rate), field testing of the welded overlays of the manual arc, and an assessment of the feasibility of coated soil rippers have been presented in the current work. Hadfield manganese steel (plain or alloyed by Cr, Ni, Mo, Si, B, or Cu) has been investigated with or without the addition of coarse-grained WC. Three commercially available overlays have been tested for comparison. Hadfield steel’s work hardening and high resistance to wear were observed during laboratory testing, while the results of field testing indicate that a significant work-hardening effect is not achieved in hard loamy soil. The lowest wear rate of soil rippers tested in loamy soil is enabled by overlays based on nickel with coarse-grained tungsten carbide particles (380 mm3 ha−1) or brazed hardmetal elements (350 mm3 ha−1)..