Electric-spark alloying of steel with heterogeneous molybdenum-containing zirconium nitride materials

Conclusions A study was made of the possibility of employing ZrN-Mo composites as materials for ESA electrodes. It is shown that the erosion of such a composite cathode decreases with rise in the Mo content of the material. The process of strengthened layer formation is affected not only the by particle size distribution of the erosion products but also by their phase composition. The formation of volatile oxides has a deleterious effect on the surface strengthening process. The best characteristics — a high degree of continuity, large thickness, close contact with the basis material, and strong adhesion to it — are exhibited by the layer forming during ESA with a 40 vol.% ZrN + 60 vol.% Mo composite electrode. During electric-spark processing a redistribution of carbon takes place in the surface layers of the cathode, the highest carbon concentration being reached in the white layer, and the ferrite grain decreases in size and changes in shape.Translated from Poroshkovaya Metallurgiya, No. 6(210), pp. 57–61, June, 1980.