Wear and corrosion resistant austenitic iron base alloy

1. An austenitic iron base alloy, comprising:

a) about 0.7 to about 2.4 wt % carbon;

b) about 3 to about 9 wt % chromium;

c) about 1.5 to about 4 wt % silicon;

d) about 12 to about 25 wt % nickel;

e) about 10 about 20 wt % of molybdenum and tungsten combined, with the tungsten comprising up to ⅓ of the total molybdenum and tungsten;

f) about 0 to about 4 wt % niobium and vanadium combined;

g) about 0 to about 1.5 wt % titanium;

h) about 0.01 to about 0.5 wt % aluminum;

i) about 0 to about 3 wt % copper;

j) less than 6 wt % manganese;

g) at least 45 wt % iron.

2. A part for internal combustion engine component comprising the alloy of claim 1 .

3. The part of claim 2 where the part is formed by casting the alloy, hardfacing with the alloy either in wire or powder form, or the part is formed by a powder metallurgy method.

4. The alloy of claim 1 wherein the amount of carbon is between about 1.8 and about 2.2 wt %.

5. The alloy of claim 1 wherein the amount of chromium is between about 3.5 and about 6.5 wt %.

6. The alloy of claim 1 wherein the amount of silicon is between about 2 and about 3 wt %.

7. The alloy of claim 1 wherein the amount of molybdenum and tungsten combined is between about 12 and about 18 wt %.

8. The alloy of claim 1 wherein the amount of nickel is between about 14 and about 18 wt %.

9. The alloy of claim 1 wherein the amount of niobium and vanadium combined is between about 1.5 and about 2.5 wt %.

10. The alloy of claim 1 wherein the amount of titanium is between about 0.1 and about 0.5 wt %.

11. The alloy of claim 1 wherein the amount of aluminum is between about 0.02 and about 0.2 wt %.

12. The alloy of claim 1 wherein the amount of copper is between about 0.5 and about 1.5 wt %.

13. The alloy of claim 1 wherein the amount of manganese is between about 0.1 and about 1 wt %.

14. The alloy of claim 1 wherein the amount of iron is greater than about 50 wt %.

15. The alloy of claim 1 wherein the alloy has a corrosion loss of less than 15 mg when a cylindrical sample of the alloy having a diameter of 6.55 mm and a length of 25.4 mm is immersed in a 10 volume % solution of sulfuric acid at room temperature for 1 hour.

16. The alloy of claim 1 wherein the alloy has a high temperature pin-on-disk disk wear loss of less than 200 mg when tested under ASTM G99-90 test conditions at 500° F. with a pin of Eatonite 6 valve alloy having a diameter of 6.35 mm and a length of 25.4 mm held against a rotating disc of the alloy 50.8 mm in diameter and 12.5 mm thick at a velocity of 0.13 m/s for a total sliding distance of 255 m.

17. An austenitic iron base alloy with good corrosion and wear resistance, comprising:

a) about 1.4 to about 2.3 wt % carbon;

b) about 3 to about 9 wt % chromium;

c) about 1.6 to about 3 wt % silicon;

d) about 13 to about 20 wt % nickel;

e) about 10 to about 19 wt % of molybdenum and tungsten combined, with the tungsten comprising up to ⅓ of the total molybdenum and tungsten;

f) about 1 to about 2.5 wt % niobium and vanadium combined;

g) about 0.05 to about 0.5 wt % titanium;

h) about 0.02 to about 0.2 wt % aluminum;

i) about 0 to about 3 wt % copper;

j) about 0.1 to about 1 wt % manganese;

g) at least 50 wt % iron.

18. A part for an internal combustion engine component comprising the alloy of claim 17 .

19. The alloy of claim 1 wherein the alloy is homogeneous.

20. The alloy of claim 17 wherein the alloy is homogeneous.

21. The alloy of claim 1 wherein the amount of niobium is at least 0.5 wt %.

22. The alloy of claim 1 wherein the alloy has a corrosion loss of less than 10 mg when a cylindrical sample of the alloy having a diameter of 6.55 mm and a length of 25.4 mm is immersed in a 10 volume % solution of sulturic acid at room temperature for 1 hour.

23. The alloy of claim 1 wherein the amount of chromium is between about 5 and about 9 wt %.