Abstract
This work focuses on the characterization of the tribological behavior of Hardox 500 steel in the ground state with different types of lubrication (dry and soluble oil), by using the technique of single cycle scratch testing. A CSM scratch testing machine equipped with a 50 µm radius Rockwell indenter was used for the experiments. The scratch length was set to 5 mm and different scratching loads (5 N, 10 N and 15 N) and speeds (10 mm/min, 50 mm/min and 100 mm/min) were considered. Results show that the friction coefficient and worn volume increase with the increase of the scratching load and speed and that samples ground using soluble oil have a martensitic microstructure characterized by very fine martensite laths that offers better wear resistance than sample ground under dry conditions. Thus, it could be conducted that the wear resistance of the Hardox 500 ground surfaces depends not only on the sliding speed and scratching normal load, but on the material microstructure also.
