The role of lateral creepage and phase transformation in rolling contact response of Hadfield steel

The resistance of Hadfield steel to contact fatigue is governed by the individual components of the applied load. This study focuses on the influence of lateral slip and phase transformation on the degradation mechanisms of Hadfield steel under rolling contact conditions. The evolution of the degradation process is experimentally analyzed in defined stages of material hardening, while the validation of the experimentally induced process is based on the analysis of operational damage. The findings indicate a significant impact of lateral slip on the damage mechanism of the contact layer, where an increase in lateral slip leads to intensified wear and suppression of fatigue cracks. In contrast, the predominance of longitudinal slip results in localized deformation and dynamically induced martensitic transformation. Crystallographic analyses revealed the formation of bands with a preferential crystallographic orientation, leading to deformation localization and, ultimately, phase transformation in Hadfield steel.