ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECTS OF ELECTROLYTIC PLASMA HARDENING ON THE MECHANICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF STEEL 45 EMPLOYED IN THE PRODUCTION OF HARROW TEETH

The paper investigates the impact of electrolytic plasma treatment (EPT) on the wear resistance of harrow teeth fabricated from grade 45 steel. Experimental results demonstrate that EPT leads to a 2–2.5 fold increase in microhardness and a more than three-order-of-magnitude reduction in the wear coefficient. Numerical modeling using COMSOL Multiphysics was employed to assess the behavior of harrow teeth under operational conditions. The model, based on Archard's law, enabled the calculation of contact stresses during the interaction of a harrow tooth with dense soil, as well as the prediction of wear thickness and volume under various load conditions. The computed contact stress values were utilized to estimate wear (4.58·10⁷ N/m² when moving horizontally and 5.31·10⁸ N/m² when immersed in soil). The calculations reveal that hardened teeth exhibit significantly lower wear volumes (≈11.7–11.8 mm³/km), while for the original steel 45 without EPT, this figure is approximately 79 cm³/km. The study findings confirm that electrolytic plasma hardening effectively reduces harrow tooth wear, extends their service life, and allows service life prediction without full-scale testing. This hardening method holds promise for agricultural machinery, as it enhances the durability of working components and can help lower operating costs.

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