A Study on Wear Characteristic of Screw Alloy Steel

Purpose: The screws used in agricultural machinery are worn by friction due to relative motion during prolonged high-pressure use. The wear can be categorized as abrasion and cohesion wear, which shorten the performance and life of agricultural machinery and eventually lead to failure. This study focused on determining the wear rate of the screw surface in dehydration machinery.
Methods: We sought to select the optimal material by comparing and analyzing the wear characteristics of three types of materials: STS, SCM, and SNCM. The wear test was performed under variable load, dry, and wet conditions on a total of 3 samples using a pin-on-disk wear tester. The friction coefficient, amount of wear, and specific wear rate were obtained from the test results and compared for the three materials.
Results: The friction surface was imaged using SEM. It was found that the specific wear rate of STS was the highest under all load conditions in both dry and wet environments. The specific abrasion rate of SCM was similar to that of SNCM in a dry environment but the lowest in a wet environment, revealing its excellent abrasion resistance.
Conclusion: A material with high wear resistance was identified by analyzing the wear characteristics of three types of materials. Moreover, its use increased durability of the screw, a critical component in dewatering machines.