The article presents the results of research on abrasive and tribocorrosion wear of boron steel. This type of steel is used in the automotive and agricultural industries for the production of tools working in soil. The main goal of the article is the evaluation of tribocorrosion and abrasive wear for hot-formed 22MnCrB5 steel and a comparison of the obtained results with test results for steel in a cold-formed state. The spinning bowl method to determine the wear of samples working in the abrasive mass was used. Furthermore, a stand developed based on the ball-on-plate system allows to determine the wear during the interaction of friction and corrosion. After the hot-forming process, 22MnCrB5 steel was three times more resistant for the abrasive wear than steel without this treatment. The average wear intensity for 22MnCrB5 untreated steel was 0.00046 g per km, while for 22MnCrB5 hot-formed steel it was 0.00014 g per km. The tribocorrosion tests show that the wear trace of hot-formed 22MnCrB5 steel was about 7.03 µm, and for cold-formed 22MnCrB5 steel a 12.11 µm trace was noticed. The hot-forming method allows to obtain the desired shape of the machine element and improves the anti-wear and anti-corrosion properties for boron steel.

Non-destructive ultrasonic testing can be used to assess the properties and condition of real machine elements during their operation, with limited (one-sided) access to these elements. A methodological question then arises concerning the influence of the material properties of such elements and the condition of their surfaces on the result of ultrasonic testing. This paper attempts to estimate the influence of material hardness and surface roughness on the result of such testing study area testing machine or plant components of unknown exact thickness. Ultrasonic testing was carried out on specially prepared steel samples. These samples had varying surface roughness (Ra from 0.34 to 250.73 µm) of the reflection surface of the longitudinal ultrasonic wave (the so-called reflectors) and hardness (32 and 57 HRC). The ultrasonic measures were the attenuation of the wave, estimated by the decibel drop in the gain of its pulses, and the propagation velocity of the longitudinal ultrasonic wave. Ultrasonic transducers (probes) of varying frequencies (from 2 to 20 MHz), excited by a laboratory and industrial defectoscope were used as the source of such a wave. The results of our research provide a basis for the recommendation of two considered ultrasonic quantities for assessing the material properties of the tested element. This is of particular importance when testing machines or plant components of unknown exact thickness and unknown roughness of inaccessible surfaces, which are the reflectors of the longitudinal ultrasonic wave used for testing. It has been demonstrated that by using the ultrasonic echo technique, it is possible to evaluate the roughness and hardness of the tested elements.

Inseparable joints are widely used in machine and vehicle construction. Hybrid joints include bonding with sheet metal clinching. This combination reduces costs as well as the time of production compared to welded joints. Tests on the samples made of DC01 sheets were carried out. A case study was conducted on four research series. For each series, the shear forces of the joint were measured. The first series consisted of adhesive bonding, and the second and third series consisted of hybrid bonding, during which the sheet metal clinching joint was developed immediately after the completion of adhesive application and after full joint formation. The last test series only includes sheet metal clinching. In the series where bonding was used, the homogeneity of the prepared joints was analysed using the ultrasonic echo technique. The shear strength of the bonded joints was 476 N, whereas the shear strength of sheet metal clinching was 965 N. For the hybrid joint, the average forces were 1085 N (for the specimens in which the lap joint was made after the joint was fully cured) and 1486 N (for the specimens in which the lap joints were made immediately after the adhesive was applied). It was discovered that the clinching of the steel sheets significantly increases the strength of the joint. The stabilisation of the joint causes better crosslinking conditions. This results in an increase in the strength of the hybrid joint.

Adhesive bonding is widely used in modern industry. It has many advantages—the main one being the reduction in production costs. It also has certain limitations. One of the limitations of adhesive bonds is the relatively long bonding time of the joints. The main objective of this research was to determine the possibility of studying the kinetics of adhesive bond formation using a non-destructive ultrasonic method. A research experiment was planned and carried out. Adhesive specimens were prepared, and their quality changes over time were evaluated. In addition, the change in ultrasonic measures during the testing of these bonds was evaluated, as well as the hardness of the adhesive. In this study, the choice of test apparatus was made, in particular ultrasonic probes for the adhesive used and the materials to be bonded. The choice of adhesive was also made, for one in which bonding phenomena occur uniformly throughout the volume. This work examined the changes in the mechanical strength and hardness with time. The tests showed that the greatest changes in mechanical strength occur within the first 24 h after the bond was made. With the mechanical strength reaching 12.6 Mpa after 216 h, the strength in the first 24 h was 10.36 (for bonded steel sheets). For bonded steel discs, the maximum tensile strength was 26.99 Mpa (after 216 h), with a hardness of 22.93 Mpa during the first 24 h. Also, significant changes were observed in the adhesive hardness during the first 24 h. The hardness of the adhesive after 216 h was 70.4 Shore’a on the D scale, while after 24 h it was 69.4 Shore’a on the D scale. Changes in the ultrasonic parameters of the adhesive bond quality were found to occur along with changes in the bond quality.