Investigation of dry sliding wear properties of boron doped powder metallurgy 316L stainless steel

Abstract This paper describes wear behavior of powder metallurgy (PM) 316L stainless steel with additions of elemental boron with the aim of producing superior mechanical properties. The wear test of the samples is conducted using a pin specimen of PM 316L stainless steel doped with elemental boron and a steel disc specimen with hardness of 180 HV10. Densification achieved with boron addition due to the liquid phase formation up to 95% of theoretical density with 0.6 wt.% boron addition. Most mechanical properties such as hardness, tensile strength and yield strength were improved with boron addition. The wear rate of PM 316L stainless steel decreased from 4.3 × 10 −6 to 0.8 × 10 −6  mm 3 /Nm with the addition of 0.6 wt.% elemental boron. The abrasive-induced delamination wear dominated at the samples. Scanning electron microscopy observations of the worn surfaces revealed that plastic deformation occurred with delamination of surface layers in the sintered conditions.