High chromium white irons are commonly used throughout the mineral processing industry to handle erosive and erosivecorrosive slurries. These alloys are used in critical wear areas in the form of castings, or deposited as weld overlays onto steel substrates. The wear resistance of these alloys is due to their microstructure, which comprises hard rod like carbides dispersed in a matrix of austenite or martensite. The microstructure and carbide morphologies of these alloys can vary significantly depending on the chemical composition and the production process. This investigation uses a simple slurry pot test apparatus with slurries containing a mixed proportion of quartz particles to produce a mixed mode of impact and low angle erosion. A variety of different commercially produced castings and weld overlays ranging from low carbide volume fraction hypoeutectic alloys to hypereutectic alloys having a high carbide volume fraction were tested. The wear mechanism and hence the wear resistance of the alloys tested has been related to the matrix and the carbide morphologies.G.D. Nelson, G.L.F. Powell and V.M. Linto
