Differentiation of specific wear rates of AISI 304 austenitic and AISI 2205 duplex stainless steels at room and high temperatures

Austenitic and duplex stainless steels are used in numerous applications at room and high temperatures. However, their wear behaviour at high temperatures has not yet been sufficiently investigated. Therefore, in this work, wear tests were carried out on specimens of AISI 304 austenitic steels and AISI 2205 duplex stainless steels at temperatures (30 °C, 140°, 300 °C, 460 °C, and 570 °C). It was found that the specific wear rate of AISI 304 at room temperature was only 6% higher than that of AISI 2205, but this ratio increased and exceeded 50% at 460 °C and 570 °C. According to scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction, oxide formation on the worn surfaces started at 300 °C and increased with increasing temperature. The oxide layers protected the surface and reduced the wear and material removal. The contact temperature between the sliding surfaces was significantly higher than the ambient temperature and was responsible for the oxide formation on the surfaces. The results indicated that the AISI 2205 exhibited better wear resistance than the AISI 304 at high temperatures.