Effect of quenching - tempering process and shot peening intensity on wear behaviour of SAE-6150 steel

Abstract

The study is conducted in order to determine the influence of quenching and tempering (QT) processes and intensity of shot peening on abrasive wear response of medium carbon SAE-6150 steel. Treated and un-treated specimens are shot peened from 0.17 A to 0.47 A intensities at an interval of 0.1 A. The abrasive wear of as-received (un-treated) and quenched-tempered steels subjected to varying peening intensities is obtained using dry sand abrasion test rig at 75, 200 and 375 N loads. Micro-structural, surface and sub-surface characterization are investigated by means of scanning electron microscope. The results exhibit that quenching and tempering processes reduced the wear rate considerably and improved the mechanical properties such as hardness, strength and percentage elongation significantly. Shot peening further reduced the wear rate of the steel if restricted to a certain peening intensity.