Synchrotron Radiation in Analysis of Structural Transformations Under Friction Conditions of Carbon Steel

The paper presents results of the structural transformations in the surface of carbon steel specimens during the first tens of cycles of the friction loading with a hard-alloy indenter. The widespread type AISI 1020 carbon steel is used in the experiments which are carried out on the Microfocus Beamline ID13 of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility. The experimental setup is designed to record the diffraction patterns during the friction. It is shown that at the initial stage of friction, the diffraction maxima significantly broaden due to the defect accumulation in the crystal lattice and, as a consequence, the growth in elastic micro-distortions and the size reduction of the coherent scattering areas. A serious increase is observed in the intensity of reflection from planes of {110} family due to the formation of the respective texture in the surface layers of steel specimens. A non-destructive method is used to detect the diffraction patterns both for non-moving and moving specimens.