High quality and behavior of steel is playing an essential role in metal and manufacturing industries. Hardox steel has exceptional properties includes high wear resistant and hardness. The wear behavior of hardox 400 steel was evaluated through pin on disc tribometer using different input constraints such as load, sliding velocity and disc speed. The wear worn surface was investigated through atomic force microscopy. The wear rate of the hardox steel was calculated with different load conditions. The wear factors and wear rate were optimized by taguchi method. Variance analysis was provided the contribution of each factor on mass loss. Wear rate of the hardox steel 400 was evaluated by pin-on-disc tribometer using different input factors. From taguchi technique, the optimal wear rate was attained at applied load of 20N, sliding velocity of 6m/s and disc speed of 800 rpm. Applied load has produced 77.19% of effect on wear rate followed by sliding velocity (14%). Atomic force microscopy was used to analyze the wear worn surface. © 2022 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.