International Conference on Advancements and Futuristic Trends in Mechanical and Materials Engineering (October 5-7, 2012)

Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar-Kapurthala Highway, Kapurthala, Punjab-144601 (INDIA) 42

A REVIEW PAPER ON HARDFACING
*
Vineet Shibe,
1
Vikas Chawla
*
Ph.D. Research Scholar, Deptt. of Mech. Engg., Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar, India.
2
Bhai Maha Singh College of Engineering, Muktsar, Punjab, India.
shibevineet@gmail.com, vikkydmt@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

Wear is a process of removal of material from one or both of two solid surfaces in solid state contact, occurring
when two solid surfaces are in sliding or rolling motion together. Different modes of wear are abrasion, impact,
metallic, heat, corrosion etc. Mostly the worn out components fail due to combination of modes of wear, such as
abrasion and impact etc. Wear can be reduced either in the form of using a new wear resistant material or by
improving the wear resistance of the existing material by addition of any wear resistant alloying element etc. Many
methods to reduce wear are in practice. In the last years hardfacing processes have been developed and used for
most of the wear resistant applications. Research is carried out for studying the wear characterization, as the basic
aim of hardfacing is to improve or extend the life of various components used across the industry owing to the high
cost of replacement of original part. In this paper an attempt has been made to review few hardfacing processes,
base materials used, the current research being done and the advantages of hardfacing.

Key Words: Hardfacing, Wear resistance, Welding, Shield manual arc welding (SMAW) process


1. Introduction

Degradation of materials by wear results in very
high losses in several industries such as agricultural,
automobiles, constructional, metal working etc.
Individuals and industry tend to focus on the wearing
surface that has the greatest impact on their own
economic situation. Wear is a surface phenomenon
and occurs mostly at outer surfaces. Every part that is
moving in service will be subject to wear at the
contact point with other parts. The consequence of
this wear is that the parts need to be replaced, which
costs money and causes downtime on the equipment.
Common Methods to control wear are hardfacing, use
of surface coatings and lubrication. Hardfacing is the
application of build-up of deposits of specialized
alloys by means of welding process to resist abrasion,
corrosion, high temperature, or impact. Surface
coating may be defined as a layer of material, formed
naturally or deposited artificially on the surface of an
object made of another material, with an aim of
obtaining required technical or decorative properties.
Lubrication is done to separate the sliding/mating
surfaces with a lubricating film.
Surface Engineering is defined as the branch of
science that deals with methods for achieving the
desired surface requirements and their behavior in
service for engineering components. The surface
characteristics of engineering materials have a
significant effect on the serviceability and life of a
component thus cannot be neglected in design.
Hardfacing is a surface modification technique
used to rebuild the surface of a work piece and is the
most common process to improve the wear resistance
of the components. It is a technique in which a
superior material is deposited on the substrate having
a sufficient mechanical strength but of less cost and to
achieve the desired properties in an economical way.
Such an alloy may be deposited on the surface, an
edge, or merely the point of a part subject to wear.
Welding is a key technology to fulfil these
requirements and to apply hardfacing alloys [1].
Hardfacing may be applied to a new part during its
production, or it may be used to restore a worn-down
surface. Hard-facing increases the service life of a part
and there by extend the lifetime of machinery
equipment efficiently [1].
In the last years hardfacing became an issue of
intense development related to wear resistant
applications. Economic success of this process
depends on selective application of hardfacing
material & its chemical composition.

2. Welding Processes Used for
Hardfacing

The different welding processes used for
hardfacing are Arc Welding, Gas Welding,
combination of Arc and Gas Welding, etc. Mostly
MMAW process is used for hardfacing because it is
the most common and versatile process. It has low
cost of equipment, portable, inexpensive; flexible in
use, ideal for repair and all position welding can be
performed easily.
The different welding processes used for
Hardfacing can be classified as under:
International Conference on Advancements and Futuristic Trends in Mechanical and Materials Engineering (October 5-7, 2012)

Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar-Kapurthala Highway, Kapurthala, Punjab-144601 (INDIA) 43


Hardfacing by Arc Welding
Shielded Metal Arc Welding [2], Flux Cored Arc
Welding [3], Submerged Arc Welding [4].

Hardfacing by Gas Welding
Deposition by Oxy-Acetylene Gas Welding [5].

Hardfacing by combination of Arc and Gas
Welding
Tungsten Inert Gas Welding [6], Gas Metal Arc
Welding [7].

Powder Spraying
Flame Spraying [8], High Velocity Oxy-Fuel Process
[9], Electric Arc Spraying, Plasma Transferred Arc
[10], etc.

Laser Hardfacing or Cladding [11].

The various factors that should be considered for
selecting of the most suitable welding process for a
given job and application are: Base metal (substrate)
composition, Nature of Work to be hardfaced,
Function of the component, Size and shape of
component, Accessibility of welding equipment, State
of repair of worn component and Number of same or
similar items to be hardfaced, etc.

3. Types of Hardfacing Alloys

The different hard-facing alloys available can be
classified as under:

Low alloy iron-base alloys
High alloy iron-base alloys
The cobalt-base and nickel-base alloys
Tungsten carbide materials

Low alloy iron-base alloys
Materials containing up to 12% alloy components,
usually chromium [12], molybdenum [13], and
manganese [14].

High alloy iron-base alloys
Materials with 12-50% alloy content, in addition to
the chromium found in all iron- base hard-facing
alloys, some of these alloys may also contain nickel
[15] or cobalt [7].

The cobalt-base [7] and nickel-base alloys
[15]
Contain relatively small amounts of iron (1.3 to
12.5%). Of these, the most costly, but also the most
versatile, are the cobalt-chromium-tungsten alloys
[16]. All the cobalt- base and nickel-base alloys have
high resistance to corrosion and oxidation; they
possess low coefficients of friction, making them
especially suitable for applications involving metal-to-
metal wear; and they are almost always selected for
applications involving temperatures of 5500C or
higher. The cobalt-base alloys retain much of their
original hardness at red heat (8000C).

Tungsten carbide materials [17]
Tungsten carbide is one of the hardest materials
available for industrial use. It cannot be melted by any
flame and is also rather brittle. For hard-facing
purposes, it is crushed and applied in conjunction with
a binding metal.

4. Types of Base Materials

The base or substrate material on which
hardfacing alloys are deposited by different welding
processes is steel. Steel comprises of different types of
metals and is made principally of iron. The various
types of steels used in the industry for making
different components or parts for different
applications are classified in to the following types:

Low Carbon Steels and Low alloy Steels
Medium Carbon Steels
High Carbon Steels
Other steels

Low Carbon Steels and Low alloy Steels:
These steels include those in the AISI series C-1008
to C-1020 [18]. Carbon ranges from 0.10 to 0.25%,
manganese ranges from 0.25 to 1.5%, phosphorous is
0.4% maximum, and sulfur is 0.5% maximum. Steels
in this range are most widely used for industrial
fabrication and construction. These steels can be
easily welded with any of the arc, gas, and resistance
welding processes. These steels include the low-
manganese steels, the low-to-medium nickel steels,
the low nickel-chromium steels, the molybdenum
steels, the chromium-molybdenum steels, and the
nickel-chromium-molybdenum steels. These alloys
are included in AISI series 2315, 2515, and 2517.
Carbon ranges from 0.12-0.30%, manganese from
0.40-0.60%, silicon from 0.20-0.45% & nickel from
3.25-5.25%.

Medium Carbon Steels:
These steels include those in the AISI series C-1025
to C-1050 [19]. The composition is similar to low-
carbon steels, except that the carbon ranges from 0.25
to 0.50% and manganese from 0.60 to 1.65%.
Medium carbon steels are readily weld able provided
some precautions are observed. These steels can be
easily welded with any welding processes discussed
above.


International Conference on Advancements and Futuristic Trends in Mechanical and Materials Engineering (October 5-7, 2012)

Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar-Kapurthala Highway, Kapurthala, Punjab-144601 (INDIA) 44

High Carbon Steels:
These steels include those in the AISI series from C-
1050 to C-1095[20]. The composition is similar to
medium-carbon steels, except that carbon ranges from
0.30 to 1.00%. Special precautions must be taken
when welding steels in these classes. These steels can
be easily welded with any of the processes discussed
above.

Other steels:
These are Low Nickel Chrome Steels (AISI 3120,
3135, 3140, 3310, and 3316), Low Manganese Steels
(AISI 1320, 1330, 1335, 1340, and 1345), Low Alloy
Chromium Steels (AISI 5015 to 5160) and the electric
furnace steels 50100, 51100, and 52100) which can be
welded without special precautions when carbon is at
low end of the range.

5. Hardfacing Applications

Hard facing technique is widely used in
Agriculture: Plowshare points, Soil-tamper points,
Harrower teeth, Tiller blades; Automotive: Trucks,
automobiles, highway construction and agricultural
vehicles, cam actuators and shafts, Exhaust
manifolds, Pumps, Mufflers, Brakes, Clutches, Cones;
Building construction: Brick moulds, Wear plates,
Mixing machine blades, Fuller screws, Crushing
cylinders, Punches and dies for ceramic materials;
Chemical: Pump shafts and sleeves, Rotating joints,
Valves, Mixer blades, Homogenizer blades,
Agitator blades; Food processing: Extruder screws
for vegetables oils, Grain mill equipments, Corn and
sugar cane cutting equipments; Glass & Ceramics:
Moulds, Screws, Mixing blades, Agitator blades;
Leather goods; Cutting tools and equipment;
Metal Working: Shear blades, Conveyor rollers,
Surface cleaning rollers, Straightening rollers, Draw
die equipment, Moulds; Mining Ore: Crusher blades,
Power-shovel teeth, Conveyor chains, Scraper blades,
Cut-off blades; Naval works: Rod ends, Blower
turbines, Piston rods, Transmission shafts, Screw
shafts; Paper: Roll cylinders for continuous
machines, Drying cylinders, Mixers; Petroleum:
Blowers and ventilators, Pumps, Heat exchangers;
Power generation: Turbines; Public works:
Steam shovel teeth and edges, Excavator teeth,
Bulldozer blades and teeth, Dredge rollers, Tractor
rollers; Rubber Tire moulds; Shop Machinery:
Tool machinery, Carriage guides, Mandrels and
spindles, Tail stocks, Bushings; Steel & Foundry:
Ventilator and blower parts, Coke wagons, Blower
nozzles, Feed rollers, Gaskets, Speed reducer, Ore
and earth handling equipment, De-flashing dies, Shear
blades, Punches, Forging moulds and punches, Sheet
metal conveyor guide; Textiles: Filament guides,
Diagonal cutter, Rollers, Heating plates.

6. Results and Discussion from
Current Research

Current Research on hardfacing focuses on using
various hardfacing/ welding techniques, different
weld consumables and different base materials. Most
of the research is carried out in studying the wear
characterization, as the basic aim of hardfacing is to
extend the service life of components used in the
industry owing to the high cost of replacement of
original component.
The different hardfacing layers produced by
shield manual arc welding (SMAW) process with a
bare electrode coated with fluxes and to which
different measures of ferrotitanium (FeTi),
ferrovanadium (FeV), ferromolybdenum (FeMo)
and graphite had been added showed good resistance
to cracking and wear when the amounts of graphite,
FeTi, FeV and FeMo were controlled within a
range of 810%, 1215%, 1012% and 24%,
respectively [21]. The coated tubular electrodes
presented a favorable performance in comparison to
the conventional coated electrode, making possible to
reach lower dilutions yet keeping the same deposition
rates. These results encourage further researches
aiming the exploitation of this fabrication conception
of SMAW electrodes [2]. FCAW welds presented
higher abrasive wear resistance than the SMAW
deposits [3]. Fe-based hardfacing alloys containing
molybdenum compound have been deposited on AISI
1020 steel substrates by shield manual arc welding
(SMAW) process. The hardfacing layer with good
cracking resistance and wear resistance could be
obtained when the amounts of FeMo was controlled
within a range of 34 wt. %. The improvement of
hardness and wear resistance of the hardfacing layers
attributed to the formation of Mo2C carbide and the
solution strengthening of Mo [13].
Gas welding is often a convenient and relatively
inexpensive method of applying wear-resistant surface
coatings [22]. In the analysis of microstructure and
properties of TiC particles reinforced Fe-based surface
composite coatings produced by gas tungsten arc
welding (GTAW), the results showed that in situ
synthesized TiC particle reinforced composite
coatings can be achieved under suitable welding
parameters. The wear resistance of multi-layers
composite coatings is about three to four times higher
than that of 1045 steel substrate [23].
A series of high chromium FeCrC hardfacing
alloys were produced by gas tungsten arc welding
(GTAW). Chromium and graphite alloy fillers were
used to deposit coatings on ASTM A36 steel
substrates. X-ray diffraction analysis and
microstructure characteristics showed CrFe solid
solution (), (Cr,Fe)23C6 and trace amounts of
(Cr,Fe)7C3. Massive (Cr,Fe)23C6 contain (Cr,Fe)7C3
in the center, and causes high hardness value up to
International Conference on Advancements and Futuristic Trends in Mechanical and Materials Engineering (October 5-7, 2012)

Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar-Kapurthala Highway, Kapurthala, Punjab-144601 (INDIA) 45

HRC 70 [24]. A series of high carbon FeCrC
hardfacing alloys were produced by gas tungsten arc
welding (GTAW). Chromium and graphite alloy
fillers were used to deposit hardfacing alloys on
ASTM A36 steel substrates. Depending on the four
different graphite additions in these alloy fillers, this
research produced hypereutectic microstructures of
FeCr phase and (Cr,Fe)7C3 carbides on hard-facing
alloys. The microstructural results indicated that
primary (Cr,Fe)7C3 carbides and eutectic colonies of
[CrFe+(Cr,Fe)7C3] existed in hardfacing alloys.
With increasing the C contents of the hardfacing
alloys, the fraction of primary (Cr,Fe)7C3 carbides
increased and their size decreased. The hardness of
hardfacing alloys increased with fraction of primary
(Cr.Fe)7C3 carbides [25].
The FE-based hardfacing alloy has excellent wear
resistance, excellent cavitation erosion resistance, and
excellent corrosion resistance, thereby being
substituted for a cobalt-based satellite alloy, which
has been used for the hardfacing of a nuclear power
plant valve. When the provided Fe-based hardfacing
alloy is used for the hardfacing of the nuclear power
plant valve, inexpensive Fe can be substituted for
expensive Co and radiation fields formed by 58Co
and 60Co radioactive isotopes can be efficiently
reduced [26].

7. Conclusions

Hardfacing is a low cost, most versatile method
of depositing wear resistant surfaces on components
to extend their life and it provides the following
benefits: Longer service life, higher productivity, less
downtime - greater availability of machine and
reduced cost.
Hardfacing improves the life of the worn out
component and reduces the cost of replacement. It
reduces downtime by extending the service life and
hence few shutdowns are required to replace them.
Hardfacing can be done on any steel material
using a suitable welding technique for a given job and
application. Different alloying elements can be
deposited on the substrate or base metal to achieve the
desired properties such as hardness, wear resistance,
abrasive resistance and impact resistance etc.

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International Conference on Advancements and Futuristic Trends in Mechanical and Materials Engineering (October 5-7, 2012)

Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar-Kapurthala Highway, Kapurthala, Punjab-144601 (INDIA) 46

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