Study on Wear-Resistant Heat Treatment Process of Pole Tips for Outdoor Mountaineering Poles

Li Zhan and Yanli Jiang

DOI: https://doi.org/10.64486/m.66.2.2
Online publication date: July 20, 2026

Abstract: Outdoor mountaineering pole tips are small but safety-critical components because they directly contact ice, snow, wet rock and other complex terrains. Their service stability depends on both the load-bearing capacity of the steel substrate and the antifriction/wear resistance of the copper alloy working layer. In this study, 42CrMo/ZCuPb10Sn10 Fe/Cu bimetallic pole tips were prepared by solid-liquid compound casting followed by an integrated casting-heat treatment route. The work focuses on how quenching temperature and holding time affect interfacial bonding, microstructure evolution, Pb-particle distribution, hardness and dry-sliding wear behavior. The results indicate that heat treatment improves the interfacial shear strength and microhardness compared with the as-cast state. When the quenching temperature is 850 °C and the holding time is further optimized to 90 min, the interdiffusion distance, interfacial shear strength and wear resistance reach the best overall combination among the investigated conditions. One-way ANOVA confirmed significant effects of the heat-treatment condition on interfacial shear strength, friction coefficient and wear rate (p < 0.01). SEM/EDS observations and quantitative indicators suggest that this improvement is associated with a finer Cu-side structure near the interface, reduced Sn segregation and a more dispersed Pb phase that may contribute to friction reduction during sliding. The conclusions are discussed as a process-microstructure-property relationship for Fe/Cu bimetallic pole tips within the range of the presented experimental evidence.

Keywords: outdoor mountaineering pole tips; Fe/Cu bimetal; 42CrMo/ZCuPb10Sn10; integrated casting-heat treatment; interfacial bonding; friction and wear

This article is published online first and will appear in Metalurgija, Vol. 66, Issue 2 (2027).