WRC 504 ✓ Most Recent

Howard S. Avery and Paul C. Kamer Howard S. Avery, beginning in the 1930s, pioneered many developments in hardfacing while employed by American Brake Shoe Company, which later became ABEX Corporation. He tried to make a science of what was then, and is still sometimes today, a black art. After his retirement, he saw the need for an Interpretive Report on hardfacing and wear, and developed the first draft of what became this report. Howard passed away August 24, 1996, before he was able to finish the report. His Daughter, Ms. Byrd Avery Locktie, cared for the draft and references before and after Howard's death. The draft languished for a number of years until Paul Kamer took it up on behalf of the Welding Research Council, updated it and brought it to completion.

The Welding Research Council Subcommittee on Hardfacing and Wear and the Welding Research Council High Alloys Committee have believed for many years that hardfacing is not really a black art, but rather is a science. Much of the scientific development of hardfacing alloys was done in the 1940s and 1950s, well before computers came to dominate the flow of information. These committees believed, quite rightly, that much of the before-computers information was in danger of being forgotten. The first purpose of this Interpretive Report is to provide a convenient route to the important scientific references.

Users of hardfacing often obtain recommendations for hardfacing alloys from suppliers without a clear understanding of what it is that they are buying. Many times, the recommendation is along the lines of one alloy being harder than another, so it must be better; or one alloy contains more alloy elements or higher alloy content, so it must be better. Without an understanding of the mechanisms of wear and the role of microstructure, the user may be persuaded to make a hardfacing alloy selection that is less-than-optimum for the application. The second purpose of this Interpretive Report is to provide non-commercial guidance to the user of hardfacing in making a hardfacing alloy selection. See more