The wear behaviour of two martensitic and one multiphase steel targeted for abrasion and erosion applications in agriculture and mining industry were investigated in three abrasive test systems with different complexity. Scratch tests were performed with different indenter radii, shapes, and loads. The material behaviour was also investigated in multi-asperity contact systems. Pin-on-disc tests were performed with various loads and abrasive particles, as well as abrasive slurry-pot tests with different sliding velocities, distances, and impact angles of the abrasive media were performed. Comparing the test systems, the tested materials ranked similarly based on their wear performance, however, in each configuration, the dominant variable of the wear mechanism differed. The significance and contributions of test paramecenterters, the material's mechanical properties (H, σM, σY, E, εεM, εεB, W, σc, Ec) and the dimensionless numbers formed from them were investigated on the wear behaviour and the surface deformation. Correlation between parameters was established by multiple linear regression models. The sensitivity of the tested materials to abrasion was evaluated taking into account the wide range of influencing parameters.
Keywords: abrasive wear; mechanical properties; regression model; steel; surface analysis.