Friction and wear behaviors of nanocrystalline surface layer of chrome-silicon alloy steel

A nanocrystalline surface layer of about 25 μm thickness was fabricated on a quenched and tempered chrome-silicon alloy steel using Supersonic Fine Particles Bombardment (SFPB). The microstructural features in the treated surface layer were characterized using scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy observations. The grain size is about 16 nm in the top surface layer. Nanoindentation tests indicate the hardness of the top nanocrystalline layer is about 2 times of that of the matrix. The tribological behavior of the nanocrystalline surface layer was investigated under dry conditions. Experimental results show that the friction coefficients and wear volume loss of the surface nanocrystallized samples are lower than those of the untreated samples, and the wear resistance is remarkably improved. After surface nanocrystallization, there occurs a transition of dominant wear mechanics from the combined action of abrasive wear and adhesive wear to the abrasive wear. The advantages realized in the friction and wear properties of the SFPB treated sample may be attributed to the duo enhancement of the hardness and the surface activity caused by the grain refinement, which, in turn, result in the improvements in forming oxide layer and resistance to plastic removal.     

Effect of severe plastic deformation on the structure,microhardness, and wear resistance of the surface layer of titanium subjected to gas nitriding

The effect of severe plastic deformation under dry sliding friction on the structure, microhardness, and wear rate of the VT1-0 titanium subjected to gas nitriding has been studied. It has been shown that this deformation leads to the formation of a nanocrystalline structure with an α-crystal size of 10–100 nm and a microhardness of ～3.1 GPa in a surface layer up to 10 μm thick. The presence of this structure intensifies the saturation of the surface of the titanium with nitrogen in the course of subsequent gas nitriding at temperatures of 650–750°C. The formation of the nitride nanocrystalline TiN phase in the deformed titanium occurs at a relatively low nitriding temperature (700°C) and a short-term holding (2 h). The volume fraction of the nitride phase, which is formed in the layer up to 10 μm thick, reaches a few tens of percent, which leads to an increase in the microhardness of the nitrided surface of the titanium deformed by friction. Preliminary severe plastic deformation has a negative effect on the fatigue wear resistance of the nitrided titanium due to an increased brittleness of the deformed and subsequently nitrided surface layer of this material.     

Wear behaviour of AZ91D magnesium alloy with a nanocrystalline surface layer

The tribological behaviour of nanocrystalline surface layer with an average grain size of 30 ± 5 nm generated by surface mechanical attrition treatment on AZ91D Mg alloy samples has been investigated under dry sliding conditions. Compared with the alloy without SMAT, nano-grained surface layer showed lower friction coefficient. An improved wear resistance of the NC layer was found at the load ranges from 3 N to 9 N due to the grain refinement strengthening effect. Examination of the worn surface and the wear debris indicated that the wear mechanism of NC layer is similar to that of the coarse-grained alloy. Cooperative effects of cutting, plowing and oxidation govern the tribological behaviour of nanocrystalline AZ91D Mg alloys.     

High temperature wear and friction properties of duplex surface treated bearing steels

Duplex treatments by thermo reactive diffusion (TRD) chromizing and puls plasma nitriding were carried out on AISI 52100 and 8620 bearing steels. Tribological behaviors of TRD chromized and duplex treated bearing steels were investigated against Al₂O₃ ball in ball-on-disc system at room temperature and 500 °C. The samples were pack chromized in a furnace at temperature of 1000 °C for 5 h. After chromizing, the samples were puls plasma nitrided for 5 h at 500 °C. The coated steels were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scratch and microhardness testing. Plasma nitriding of chromized steels increased the total thickness of the compound layer. The subsequent plasma nitriding increased the surface hardness to 2135 HK_0.025 due to the formation of CrN and Cr₂N. The surface hardness and scratch resistance of coating can be increased with duplex treatment of chromizing followed by plasma nitriding, resulting in high wear resistance. Tribological tests indicated that puls plasma nitriding process decreased the coefficient of friction values and wear rate of the chromized steels at room temperature and 500 °C. Also, examination of the worn surface of the samples showed that particularly at high temperature, the oxidized compact layer occurs and tribo-oxidation played an important role in oxidation behaviour of the steels after the duplex treatment.     

Improving the surface properties of A286 precipitation-hardening stainless steel by low-temperature plasma nitriding

Plasma nitriding over a wide range of treatment temperatures between 350 and 500 °C and time from 5 to 30 h on A286 austenitic precipitation-hardening stainless steels has been investigated. Systematic materials characterisation of the plasma surface alloyed A286 alloy was carried out in terms of microstructure observations, phase identification, chemical composition depth profiling, surface and cross-section microhardness measurements, electrochemical corrosion tests, dry sliding wear tests and corrosion-wear tests. Experimental results have shown that plasma nitriding can significantly improve the hardness and wear resistance of A286 stainless steels owing to the formation of nitrogen supersaturated S-phase; the surface layer characteristics (e.g. microstructure, case depth and hardness) of the plasma surface alloyed cases are highly process condition dependent and there are possibilities to provide considerable improvement in wear, corrosion and corrosion-wear resistance of A286 steel.     

Plasma nitriding of plastic mold steel to increase wear- and corrosion properties

In this study, the wear- and corrosion resistance of the layers formed on the surface of a precipitation hardenable plastic mold steel (NAK55) by plasma nitriding were investigated. Plasma nitriding experiments were carried out at an industrial nitriding facility in an atmosphere of 25% N₂ + 75% H₂ at 475 °C, 500 °C, and 525 °C for 10 h. The microstructures of the nitrided layers were examined, and various phases present were determined by X-ray diffraction. Wear tests were carried out on a block-on-ring wear tester under unlubricated conditions. The corrosion behaviors were evaluated using anodic polarization tests in 3.5% NaCl solution.The findings had shown that plasma nitriding does not cause the core to soften by overaging. Nitriding and aging could be achieved simultaneously in the same treatment cycle. Plasma nitriding of NAK55 mold steel produced a nitrided layer consisted of a compound layer rich in ε-nitride and an adjacent nitrogen diffusion layer on the steel surface. Increasing the nitriding temperature could bring about increase in the thickness of the nitrided layer and the nitride volume fraction. Plasma nitriding improved not only surface hardness but also wear resistance. The anti-wear property of the steel was found to relate to the increase in the thickness of the diffusion layer. Corrosion study revealed that plasma nitriding significantly improved corrosion resistance in terms of corrosion potential and corrosion rate. Improvement in corrosion resistance was found to be directly related to the increase in the nitride volume fraction at the steel surface.     

Microstructure and tribological characteristics of nitrided layer on 2Cr13 steel in air and vacuum

A 2Cr13 steel was gas nitrided in pure NH₃ gas atmosphere at 793 K for 20 h. The microstructure, composition and microhardness of the nitrided samples were examined. The tribological behaviour of the nitrided 2Cr13 steel in air and vacuum was investigated in order to analyse effects of the nitriding on wear resistance of the 2Cr13 steel. The results show that the nitrided layer consists of a compound layer and diffusion zone. The nitriding increases both the surface hardness and wear resistance of 2Cr13 steel in air and vacuum, and the anti-wear characteristic of the nitrided 2Cr13 steel in vacuum is much higher than that in air. The nitrided layer exhibits a mild wear in air, and avoids the severe wear that happens on the unnitrided steel. While the adhesion dominates the wear process in vacuum. The material transfer between the wear couples helps to improve the tribological characteristics of the nitrided layer in vacuum.     

Low-Temperature Nitriding of Nanocrystalline Stainless Steel and Its Effect on Improving Wear and Corrosion Resistance

In this study, an ultrafine-grained surface layer with the average grain size of about 10 nm was fabricated on a stainless steel plate by surface mechanical attrition treatment (SMAT). Plasma nitriding of the samples was carried out by a low-frequency pulse-excited plasma unit. Optical microscopy, x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, micro-indentation, and pin-on-disk wear and corrosion experiments were performed for characterization before and after plasma nitriding. It is found that the pre-SMATed sample developed a nitrided layer twice as thick as that on the as-received sample under the same nitriding conditions (300 °C for 4 h), which can be mainly attributed to the fast diffusion of nitrogen along grain boundaries in the nanostructured layer induced by means of SMAT. Results showed that nitriding layers of the as-received and pre-SMATed samples up to 300 °C are dominated by S-phase (γ_N), but its peak intensity for the pre-SMATed sample is sharper than that of the as-received one. During 500 °C nitriding treatment, the nitrogen would react with Cr in the steel to form CrN precipitates, which would lead to the depletion of chromium in the solid solution phase of the nitrided layer. Furthermore, the nitrided layer of the pre-SMATed sample exhibited a high hardness, and an excellent wear and corrosion resistance.     

Surface nanocrystallization by surface mechanical attrition treatment and its effect on structure and properties of plasma nitrided AISI 321 stainless steel

A plastic deformation surface layer with nanocrystalline grains was produced on AISI 321 austenitic stainless steel by means of surface mechanical attrition treatment (SMAT). Low-temperature nitriding of SMAT and un-SMAT AISI 321 stainless steel was carried out in pulsed-DC glow discharge. The effect of SMAT pretreatment on the microstructure and properties of the stainless steel were investigated using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Vickers hardness tester and UMT-2MT tribometer. The results show that the plasma nitriding of AISI 321 steel can be enhanced considerably by means of SMAT process before nitriding, and a much thicker nitrogen diffusion layer with higher hardness was obtained for the SMAT samples when compared with un-SMAT samples. In addition, the wear resistance and load capacity of the nitrided layers on the SMAT samples was much higher than that of the un-SMAT samples due to the thicker S phase case and the gradient nitrogen diffusion layer.     

Study of the surface nanocrystallization induced by the esonix ultrasonic impact treatment on the near-surface of 2024-T351 aluminum alloy

A nanocrystalline surface layer of Al alloy induced by the Esonix Ultrasonic Impact Treatment process was studied by advanced electron microscopes. The results revealed that the process can effectively refine the surface coarse grains into equiaxed nanocrystalline grains (grain size: 8.0–10.0 nm) and elongated microbands (15–20 nm wide). The surface affected zone was measured to be approximately 10 μm. The microstructural features include nanograins, microbands, high-density dislocation, and twining structure.     

A comparative study: The effect of surface treatments on the tribological properties of Ti-6Al-4V alloy

The effect of different surface treatments on the wear resistance of Ti-6Al-4V alloy has been investigated. For this purpose, plasma nitriding treatment was performed in a gas mixture 75% N₂-25% Ar, for 1 h treatment time and at 750 °C. The thin films were deposited using CFUMBS technique. The results showed that more surface roughness was obtained for nitrided specimens compared with thin film deposited specimens. It was also observed that both surface treatments improved the wear resistance of Ti-6Al-4V alloy. It was determined that plasma nitrided specimens exhibited excellent wear resistance compared with thin film deposited ones when applied load increased. Similar results were obtained from surface hardness measurements, and it was observed that load bearing capacity increased after plasma nitriding. The corrosion resistance of both surface treatments showed similar properties.     

In situ synthesis of nanocrystalline intermetallic layer during surface plastic deformation of zirconium

By means of a surface plastic deformation method a nanocrystalline (NC) intermetallic compound was in situ synthesized on the surface layer of bulk zirconium (Zr). Hardened steel shots (composition: 1.0C, 1.5Cr, base Fe in wt.%) were used to conduct repetitive and multidirectional peening on the surface layer of Zr. The microstructure evolution of the surface layer was investigated by X-ray diffraction and scanning and transmission electron microscopy observations. The NC intermetallic layer of about 25 μm thick was observed and confirmed by concentration profiles of Zr, Fe and Cr, and was found to consist of the Fe_100 − xCr_x compound with an average grain size of 22 nm. The NC surface layer exhibited an extremely high average hardness of 10.2 GPa. The Zr base immediately next to the compound/Zr interface has a grain size of ∼ 250 nm, and a hardness of ∼ 3.4 GPa. The Fe_100 − xCr_x layer was found to securely adhere to the Zr base.     

Duplex surface treatment of an AISI 316L stainless steel; microstructure and tribological behaviour

Austenitic stainless steel AISI 316L is used in several industrial applications, mainly due to its excellent corrosion resistance; however, its low hardness and poor wear performance impose strong limitations in many cases. A combination of DC-pulsed plasma nitriding and plasma assisted PVD coating as a surface treatment has been shown to improve the material fatigue and wear resistance without affecting the corrosion performance. In the present work a duplex treatment, consisting of a plasma nitriding at 673 K for 20 h and a subsequent coating with a TiN layer was applied to an AISI 316L steel. The microstructure obtained as well as the tribological behaviour was extensively studied. Wear tests were performed in rolling-sliding condition under different loads (490, 1225 and 1960 N). Different wear mechanisms were observed depending on the normal applied load. Analysis and discussion of the wear test results showed that the combination of the two processes, plasma nitriding and plasma assisted PVD coating, improves considerably the wear resistance of the AISI 316L. At low applied loads, the duplex treatment improved significantly the wear resistance during the sliding/rolling contact, i.e. only abrasion was observed. However, upon increasing the applied loads fatigue and delamination wear mechanism appeared. In the case of the highest applied load, delamination was the main wear mechanism observed in the tested samples.     

17-4PH不锈钢激光气体渗氮层显微组织与摩擦学性能

目的 提高17-4PH马氏体沉淀硬化不锈钢的表面硬度及耐磨性。方法 采用光纤激光器对17-4PH不锈钢进行激光气体氮化,采用不同激光功率在其表面制备渗氮层。利用光学显微镜(OM)、电子扫描显微镜(SEM)和X射线衍射仪(XRD)等设备分析渗氮层的显微组织和相组成;借助显微硬度仪测试渗氮层截面深度方向的硬度;采用多功能摩擦磨损试验机测试基体、渗氮层的摩擦学性能,并通过SEM分析磨痕形貌,揭示基体与渗氮层的磨损机制。结果 在渗氮前样品组织为回火马氏体,经激光渗氮后样品表面形成了由板条马氏体组成的熔化区和回火马氏体组成的热影响区构成的渗氮层。经渗氮后,样品的硬度均得到提高。在激光功率3 000 W下,渗氮层的表面硬度最高,达到了415HV0.2,约是基体硬度的1.2倍,渗氮层的硬度随着深度的增加呈下降趋势,在深度为2.6 mm处其硬度与基体一致。在回火马氏体向板条马氏体转变的相变强化,以及氮原子(以固溶方式进入基体)的固溶强化作用下,提高了渗氮层的硬度。经渗氮后,样品的摩擦因数均高于基体,但渗氮后其磨损量相较于基体有所减少,在激光功率3 000 W下,其磨损体积最小,相较于基体减少了62%。在激光功率2 500 W下马氏体转变不完全,在激光功率3 500 W下渗氮层出现了裂纹,都降低了渗氮层的硬度,其耐磨性也随之减小,且都略低于在3 000 W下。磨损机制由渗氮前的以黏着磨损为主,转变为渗氮后的以磨粒磨损为主。结论 在17-4PH马氏体沉淀硬化不锈钢表面进行激光渗氮后,其表面硬度和耐磨性均得到提高,在激光功率3 000 W下制备的渗氮层具有较高的表面硬度和优异的耐磨性。     

Improvement of corrosion and wear resistances of AISI 420 martensitic stainless steel using plasma nitriding at low temperature

The influence of low temperature plasma nitriding on the wear and corrosion resistance of AISI 420 martensitic stainless steel was investigated. Plasma nitriding experiments were carried out with DC-pulsed plasma in 25% N₂ + 75% H₂ atmosphere at 350 °C, 450 °C and 550 °C for 15 h. The composition, microstructure and hardness of the nitrided samples were examined. The wear resistances of plasma nitrided samples were determined with a ball-on-disc wear tester. The corrosion behaviors of plasma nitrided AISI420 stainless steel were evaluated using anodic polarization tests and salt fog spray tests in the simulated industrial environment.The results show that plasma nitriding produces a relatively thick nitrided layer consisting of a compound layer and an adjacent nitrogen diffusion layer on the AISI 420 stainless steel surface. Plasma nitriding not only increases the surface hardness but also improves the wear resistance of the martensitic stainless steel. Furthermore, the anti-wear property of the steel nitrided at 350 °C is much more excellent than that at 550 °C. In addition, the corrosion resistance of AISI420 martensitic stainless steel is considerably improved by 350 °C low temperature plasma nitriding. The improved corrosion resistance is considered to be related to the combined effect of the solid solution of Cr and the high chemical stable phases of ?-Fe₃N and α_N formed on the martensitic stainless steel surface during 350 °C low temperature plasma nitriding. However, plasma nitriding carried out at 450 °C or 550 °C reduces the corrosion resistance of samples, because of the formation of CrN and leading to the depletion of Cr in the solid solution phase of the nitrided layer.     

Microstructure and vacuum tribological properties of 1Cr18Ni9Ti steel with combined surface treatments

A sulfide film was fabricated on the nanocrystalline layer of 1Cr18Ni9Ti stainless steel by a two-step method of supersonic fine particles bombarding (SFPB) and low temperature ion sulfurization treatments. The microstructure and mechanical properties of the nanocrystallized surface and the sulfide film were characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (equipped with EDS), augur energy spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscope, and nano-indenter. The tribological behaviour of the treated (after SFPB and sulfurizing treatments) 1Cr18Ni9Ti steel in vacuum was investigated on a ball-on-disk tribometer. The results showed that, randomly oriented equiaxial nanograins with the mean grain size less than 30 nm were formed in the top surface layer of the SFPB treated sample, and a compact and uniform sulfide film mainly composed of FeS was obtained after the succedent sulfurizing treatment. Compared to the original 1Cr18Ni9Ti steel, the treated surface revealed lower friction coefficient and better wear resistance in vacuum, and the variation of tribological properties with atmospheric pressure of the treated samples was not significant. The dominant wear mechanisms of the treated 1Cr18Ni9Ti in vacuum were abrasive wear and fatigue wear.     

Plasma nitridation of a novel Ni–10.8 wt.%Cr nanocomposite

A Ni–10.8Cr nanocomposite (by wt.%), consisting of nanocrystalline Ni matrix (mean grain size: 60 nm) and dispersed Cr nanoparticles (mean particle size: 42 nm), has been synthesized by nanocomposite electrodeposition. The unique structure causes the nanocomposite to form a double-layered nitrided zone during plasma nitridation at 560 °C for 10 h. The outer layer (∼50 μm thick) precipitates nanometer-sized CrN (<100 nm), which increased in size but decreased in number with increasing nitridation depth (following Böhm–Kahlweit’s mode). The inner layer (∼5 μm thick) exhibits larger-coarsened nitride precipitates (100–200 nm) which almost link together. The greatly enhanced nitriding kinetics in the nanocomposite compared to a compositionally similar but microstructurally different Ni–10Cr alloy (mean grain size: 30 μm) is mainly associated with the fact that the numerous grain boundaries dramatically increase the nitrogen permeability, according to the treatment using a classical Wagner’s approach. The nanohardness profile in relation to the microstructure of the nitrided zone in the nanocomposite has also been investigated.     

等离子体渗氮气压对合金钢渗氮层微观结构和性能的影响

目的 选择M50NiL钢（高合金钢）和AISI 4140钢（低合金钢）2种合金钢,研究渗氮气压对合金钢等离子体渗氮层组织结构、渗层厚度、硬度、韧性和摩擦磨损性能的影响规律。方法 根据离子渗氮GB/T30883—2017,在0～500 Pa渗氮气压范围内选择170、250、350 Pa 3个渗氮气压进行等离子体渗氮,研究渗层微观结构和性能。结果 对于M50NiL和AISI 4140两种合金钢,350 Pa时渗层厚度均最大,170 Pa次之,250 Pa厚度最小。M50NiL钢在350 Pa渗氮和AISI 4140钢在170 Pa渗氮时,表面层具有最优的强韧性。摩擦磨损性能显示,170 Pa和350 Pa气压渗氮的摩擦磨损性能明显优于250 Pa气压渗氮,其中磨损率规律与渗氮层的韧性值测试结果吻合。结论 气压影响了氮离子的能量和分布,从而影响了渗层厚度,钢中的合金元素含量和气压共同影响表面强韧化效果,并且表面强韧化效果直接影响渗氮层的摩擦磨损性能。     

Diffusion of chromium in nanocrystalline iron produced by means of surface mechanical attrition treatment

By means of surface mechanical attrition treatment (SMAT) to a pure iron plate, a nanometer-grained surface layer without porosity and contamination was fabricated. The average grain size in the top surface layer (of 5 μm thick) is about 10–25 nm, and the grain size stability can be maintained up to 653 K. Cr diffusion kinetics in the nanocrystalline Fe phase was measured by using second ion mass spectrometry within a temperature range of 573–653 K. Experimental results showed that diffusivity of Cr in the nanocrystalline Fe is 7–9 orders of magnitude higher than that in Fe lattice and 4–5 orders of magnitude higher than that in the grain boundaries (GBs) of α-Fe. The activation energy for Cr diffusion in the Fe nanophase is comparable to that of the GB diffusion, but the pre-exponential factor is much higher. The enhanced diffusivity of Cr may originate from a large volume fraction of non-equilibrium GBs and a considerable amount of triple junctions in the present nanocrystalline Fe sample processed by means of the SMAT technique.     

表面纳米化7A52铝合金在油润滑条件下的耐磨性能

采用高速颗粒轰击技术在7A52铝合金表面制得一定厚度纳米结构表层,利用扫描电子显微镜和透射电子显微镜观察了表面纳米晶层的微观结构特征,利用多功能纳米压痕仪和往复式摩擦磨损试验机测试了样品表面纳米化前后的硬度和耐磨性能。结果表明:7A52铝合金经高速颗粒轰击处理后样品表层形成了厚度约90μm塑性变形层,最表层晶粒尺寸约为8～20nm;表面纳米晶层的显微硬度约为原始样品的1.76倍;在油润滑的低载荷和中等载荷条件下,表面纳米化抛光样品的磨损量为原始样品的1/2～1/3;表面纳米化样品的磨损机制为磨粒磨损和黏着磨损,而原始样品的磨损机制为黏着磨损和疲劳磨损,表明其具有优异的耐磨性能。