This paper discusses changes in the microstructure and abrasive wear resistance of G17CrMo5-5 cast steel modified with rare earth metals
(REM). The changes were assessed using scanning microscopy. The wear response was determined in the Miller test to ASTM G75.
Abrasion tests were supplemented with the surface profile measurements of non-modified and modified cast steel using a Talysurf CCI
optical profilometer. It was demonstrated that the modification substantially affected the microstructure of the alloy, leading to grain size
reduction and changed morphology of non-metallic inclusions. The observed changes in the microstructure resulted in a three times higher
impact strength (from 33 to 99 kJ/cm2
) and more than two times higher resistance to cracking (from 116 to 250 MPa). The following
surface parameters were computed: Sa: Arithmetic mean deviation of the surface, Sq: Root-mean-square deviation of the surface, Sp:
Maximum height of the peak
Sv: Maximum depth of the valley, Sz: Ten Point Average, Ssk: Asymmetry of the surface, Sku: Kurtosis of the surface. The findings also
indicated that the addition of rare earth metals had a positive effect on the abrasion behaviour of G17CrMo5-5 cast steel.
The effect of the complex ligature with nickel and REM (Ce, La) aluminides on the structure formation, the nature of the distribution of the elements, and the microhardness of the structural constituents of Al-5 wt.% Cu aluminum alloy were investigated. On the example of microalloying of the Al-5 wt.% Cu alloy with a master alloy containing Ni and REM (Ce, La) aluminides it was shown that a redistribution of Al and Cu occurs in α-solid solution and eutectic. This is reflected in the refinement of α-solid solution and eutectic at 0.15 wt.% of the master alloy addition and, accordingly, increases the microhardness of α-solid solution by 100 MPa and eutectic by 125 MPa.