Interrelation between the Composition of Steel Treated by Electrospark Alloying and the Properties of Resulting Composite Surface

The study of elemental composition of surface composites produced by electrospark alloying (ESA) of Type 45, 65G, and St3 steels with hard T15K6 and VK8 alloys and Type 45 and St3 steels (in the “steel-on-steel” mode) showed that the formed surface layers consisted of the ESA-modified steel substrate material by ~70%. The effects that the steel composition has on coefficients characterizing the transfer of the processing electrode material onto the substrate, surface roughness, microhardness, and wear resistance of resulting surfaces were investigated. It was found that the wear resistance of the composites is mainly determined by the nature of surface being processed and, to a much lesser extent, by the processing electrode material, surface roughness and microhardness.