Predicting the Risk of Destruction of Hard-Facing Alloys Based on the Morphology of Their Structure

Abstract

Wear resistance and fracture resistance are the main indicators of the quality of hard alloys. The risk of fracture of such materials is usually difficult to assess due to high hardness. However, this can be done by measuring the morphology of microstructure. The structure of hard alloys is diverse. Hardening particles (carbides, borides, particle clusters, dendrites, etc.) are located in the matrix. They have different geometries, the thickness of matrix interlayers varying. This assumes using a statistical approach to the analysis of structures. The statistical nature of structural elements is established with digital optical microscopy. Objective methods for the binarization and filtration of structure images are proposed. It is shown that the average thickness of the interlayers and the asymmetry of the thickness distribution can be used as an effective assessment of the risk of fracture of hard alloys. The prediction of the risk of fracture is validated by comparing the morphology of structures and fractures of hard alloys.