Transition of Mild Wear to Severe Wear in Oxidative Wear of H21 Steel

Under atmospheric conditions at 400 °C, we studied the wear mechanism of H21 steel with different tempering states as a function of normal load. Typical oxidative wear was identified by X-ray diffraction patterns with predominant tribo-oxides of Fe₃O₄ and Fe₂O₃. Under loads of 50–100 N, mild oxidative wear prevailed for all samples, such that the wear losses of H21 steel with various tempering states showed no significant differences with characteristics of a slight plastic deformation of the substrate and single-layer oxide. In this case, the wear rate was lower, and the tribo-oxide was decisive factor in determining wear rate. Under loads of 150–200 N, the transition of mild wear to severe wear occurred in H21 steel and was characterized by: (1) a significant difference of wear losses for steel with various tempering states; (2) wear loss that started to increase faster and reached a relatively high level; (3) the appearance of significant plastic deformation in the oxide underneath the substrate and multi-layer tribo-oxide. Under a load of 200 N for the steel tempered at 700 °C, plastic extrusion prevailed with a mixed metal-oxide layer.