The hammer head of a pile driver is one of the important components of the machine. The structure and performance of a wear-resistant hammer head depend on the content of chromium and carbon. Due to the greater affinity of carbon and chromium than that of iron and carbon, a series of stable chromium-iron compounds are formed.

Since the content of chromium and carbon is relatively high in the hammer head, and chromium is an element that forms network carbides along the grain boundaries, a large amount of eutectic carbides are continuously distributed along the grain boundaries, while the matrix is a twinned substructure martensite. This organizational structure, with brittle network carbides continuously distributed along the grain boundaries of a brittle-hard matrix, leads to insufficient toughness reserves in the pile driver hammer head, affecting its range of applications. How to improve the toughness of the hammer head, as a wear-resistant material, requires high hardness. However, in the wear process, pursuing only the hardness of the material while neglecting its toughness will inevitably lead to the hammer head chipping in use, or even premature fracture.

Since chromium can improve the high-temperature oxidation resistance and corrosion resistance of the hammer head, the hammer head has excellent heat resistance and corrosion resistance. The difference between the hammer head and stainless steel is its higher carbon content, which results in particularly lower mechanical properties, especially plasticity and toughness. However, because it contains a large amount of high-hardness carbides, its wear resistance, especially the performance of wear-resistant materials wear, is very superior. In addition, the pile driver hammer head also has good oxidation resistance and corrosion resistance, often used as a wear-resistant hammer head in high-temperature or corrosive environments.