Effect of Preheating and Buttering on Cracking Susceptibility and Wear Resistance of Hardfaced HSLA Steel Deposit

Abstract

Hardfacing weld techniques apply mainly to improve the service life of engineering components either by rebuilding or fabricating a composite layer, which will protect the components from wear, erosion, and corrosion. However, hardfaced deposits are susceptible to cracks compared to the base metal due to thermal cycles and different chemical composition of hardfaced consumables. In addition, this method yields only marginal improvements in wear resistance performance. This investigation was attempted to eliminate the cracks by depositing a soft buttering layer by using austenitic stainless steel consumable in the area between base metal and hardfaced layer. Preheating was also applied at the joint. The result reveals that buttering and preheating reduce crack susceptibility and increase wear performance of hardfaced HSLA steel deposit.