The consequence of coupling wear (erosion/abrasion) and corrosion is not just simply the sum of wear in the absence of corrosive medium and corrosion in the absence of wear. The existing synergistic effect between wear and corrosion implies that corrosion is accelerated due to the removal of the passivating layer because of wear. On the other hand, corrosion can accelerate abrasion when the electrochemical dissolution yields a brittle surface layer which can be subsequently removed by abrasion. In order to overcome this challenge, novel alloys must be designed to have simultaneously abrasion and corrosion resistance. Those alloys can be used in many industrial facilities operating under severe conditions like oil and gas, fertilizer industry, chemical plants, etc.

This study evaluates the microstructure, abrasion resistance, and corrosion behaviour of newly designed cost-effective Cr-Mo-W-V steels. Six steels were designed with the help of computational thermodynamics to achieve a ferritic or a duplex matrix with embedded hard carbides. The precursors of alloying elements were two commercial steels, namely HCx and 316L, and the alloys were obtained by mixing different proportions of the two precursors (from 90% HCx-5% 316L to 50% HCx-50% 316L) in powder form and subsequent melting. The wet abrasion tests and the corrosion tests revealed that the designed Cr-Mo-W-V steels have remarkable abrasion and corrosion resistance compared to the expensive HCx steel used as a precursor.

The least alloyed steel had the highest abrasion resistance owing to its low matrix/carbide hardness ratio and the presence of small intragranular carbides that led to a greater influence of the microstructure than the hardness on the abrasion resistance. Regarding the corrosion behaviour in 1N H₂SO₄, nickel played a key role in the formation of a passivation layer before the onset of corrosion. However, it must be added along with chromium and molybdenum for improved performance since they decrease the passivation current density and insure a quick repassivation after passivity breakdown.