A new low pressure plasma nitriding method

A new method of nitriding in low pressure plasmas was developed. The method can be used to combine the benefits of low pressure ion plating with plasma nitriding to produce wear-resistant coatings for various applications since both treatments can be carried out within the same vaccum chamber as consecutive steps. The low pressure plasma nitriding process is quite different from the conventional methods used in industrial applications so far. However, extensive tests confirm that low pressure plasma nitriding compares favourably with other nitriding processes in applications where wear resistance is required. The results are believed to be due to the creation of a thin and homogeneous compound layer during the low pressure treatment.     

软氮化和化学镀镍双重强化对45钢表面性能的影响

先对45钢表面分别进行化学镀和软氮化处理,然后进行软氮化后再化学镀镍磷试验.测量了3种方法强化后渗(镀)层的厚度、硬度和分别在150 N和100 N试验压力下渗(镀)层的耐磨性.结果表明,软氮化后再进行化学镀所得的渗(镀)层有较大的厚度、硬度和耐磨性,该复合强化方法是一种有效的表面强化方法,有较好的应用前景.     

渗氮与Ni－Cu－P刷镀复合处理表面的摩擦学性能

利用球－盘摩擦磨损试验机研究了边界润滑条件下４５＃钢渗氮表面刷镀Ｎｉ－Ｃｕ－Ｐ镀层的摩擦学性能．结果表明,在硬度较高且具热硬性的渗氮层上刷镀较软的Ｎｉ－Ｃｕ－Ｐ镀层,可较４５＃钢直接刷镀Ｎｉ－Ｃｕ－Ｐ镀层及未刷镀的渗氮层,摩擦学性能全面显著提高．还利用扫描电子显微镜和铁谱仪对磨损表面的成分、形貌和磨屑形态进行了分析．     

Struktur und Eigenschaften nichtrostender Stähle nach einer Plasmaimmersionsionenimplantation und einer Plasmanitrierung

Structure and properties of stainless steels after plasma immersion ion implantation and plasma nitriding Stainless steels can be nitrided at temperatures ≤ 400 °C to increase their hardness and wear resistance without a decreasing of their excellent corrosion resistance. Structure and properties of the surface layers produced by plasma nitriding and plasma immersion ion implantation in this temperature range were tested. There are negligible differences in the structure of the produced surface layers in spite of different interaction principles of the used technologies. However there are clear differences between the case of different steels. The case of ferritic chromium steels mainly consists of ε-nitride. Whereas the cases of austenitic and ferritic austenitic steels are characterized by expanded austenite. The corrosion resistance of the steels is reduced by nitriding only, if evident CrN-formation occurs.     

Mechanical and tribological properties of Ti/TiAlN duplex coatings on high and low alloy tool steels

In this research work, different steels were hardened using plasma nitriding process in an Arc-PVD device. Afterwards, on both non-nitrided and plasma nitrided substrates, different Ti/TiAlN multilayer coatings were deposited by a magnetron sputtering device. Scratch tests were performed on the duplex systems in order to characterize their adhesive properties. The failure modes of individual coating systems under various normal loads were described using light optical microscope. Furthermore, to study the effect of plasma nitriding on the friction coefficient and wear rate of the systems, ball-on-disc tests were carried out. It was shown that high and low alloy tool steels obtained different levels of hardness after plasma nitriding process. The results of scratch tests showed that both Ti/TiAlN multilayer coatings have a higher adhesion to plasma nitrided steels compared to non-nitrided steels. In addition, plasma nitriding of the substrates resulted in an increase in the wear rates of multilayer coatings. It was also revealed that the adhesion and the tribology of multilayers depend strongly on the amount of titanium interlayers. An increase of the thickness of titanium interlayers enhanced the adhesion of multilayers. However, increasing the thickness of titanium interlayers decreased the hardness and wear resistance of multilayers.     

Verschleißschutz und Korrosionsbeständigkeit von austenitischem Stahl durch Plasmadiffusions behandlung

In this paper, we report on a series of experiments designed to study the influence of plasma nitriding on the mechanical properties and the corrosion resistance of austenitic stainless steel. Plasma nitriding experiments were conducted on AISI 304L steel in a temperature range of 375‐475°C using pulsed‐DC plasma with different N ₂‐H ₂ gas mixtures and treatment times. First of all, the formation and the microstructure of the modified layer will be highlighted followed by the results of hardness measurement, adhesion testing, wear resistance and fatigue life tests. In addition the corrosion resistance of the modified layer is described. The microhardness after plasma nitriding is increased by a factor of five compared to the untreated material. The adhesion is examined by Rockwell indentation and scratch test. No delamination of the treated layer could be observed. The wear rate after plasma nitriding is significantly reduced compared to the untreated material. Plasma nitriding produces compressive stress within the modified layer. This treatment improves the fatigue life which can be raised by a factor of ten at a low stress level. The results show that plasma nitriding of austenitic stainless steel is a suitable process for improving the mechanical and the technological properties without significantly effecting the excellent corrosion resistance of this material.     

冷作模具钢等离子渗镀CrVN复合涂层摩擦磨损性能研究

采用等离子渗镀技术在DC 53冷作模具钢表面制备CrN和CrVN复合涂层,利用X射线衍射仪(XRD)、X射线光电子能谱(XPS)、扫描电镜(SEM)、显微硬度计和摩擦磨损试验机,对比研究了两种涂层的组织结构、力学性能以及摩擦磨损性能。结果表明:所制备的CrN和CrVN涂层均为面心立方(fcc)结构,并呈现(111)择优取向,其中CrVN涂层形成了以fcc-CrN相为基础的CrVN固溶体结构。CrN涂层中掺入V抑制了柱状晶生长,涂层结构更加致密,硬度和结合力明显提高,摩擦系数及磨损率降低。CrVN涂层表面粗糙度较低,并在摩擦过程中生成具有自润滑性的VO2,涂层抗粘铝性能得到改善。     

不同温度下等离子渗氮后TC4钛合金的摩擦磨损性能EI北大核心CSCD

采用等离子渗氮技术提升TC4钛合金的耐磨性并探究最优渗氮温度。利用LDM 1-100型等离子渗氮设备,在650,700,750,800,850℃和900℃温度下对TC4钛合金进行渗氮处理,保温时间均为10 h。利用光学显微镜、扫描电子显微镜、白光三维形貌仪、X射线衍射仪和显微硬度计分别对不同温度渗氮试样的微观组织结构、表面形貌、表面粗糙度、相结构和硬度进行表征。利用CETR UMT-3型多功能摩擦磨损试验机测试等离子渗氮后TC4钛合金的摩擦学性能。结果表明:TC4钛合金表面显微硬度和粗糙度随温度升高而增大,在900℃渗氮后TC4钛合金表面显微硬度达到了1318HV 0.05,约为基体(360HV 0.05)的4倍。硬度的升高是由于渗氮后试样表面形成了硬质氮化物相(TiN和Ti2N相),且随着渗氮温度升高氮化物的含量增加。相较于低温渗氮(低于750℃)的试样,850℃和900℃渗氮试样的承载能力显著提升。与原始TC4试样相比,渗氮处理后试样的磨损体积显著降低。当渗氮温度为850℃时,试样磨损体积为未处理试样磨损体积的1.2%(1 N),3.0%(3 N)和62.2%(5 N),试样的耐磨性提升更为显著。     

Gas- und Plasmanitrieren der (α + β)- Titanlegierung TiAl6V4. Vergleichende Untersuchungen zu Schichtaufbau und Schichteigenschaften

The usually low wear resistance of titanium materials can be increased by the thermochemical surface treatment nitriding. In result of comparative investigations of gas and plasma nitriding it will be shown that it is possible to obtain a specific variation of the properties in the highly stressed case by means of these both technologies on example of the (α + β) alloy Ti-6Al-4V. Gas and plasma nitriding was carried out in the temperature range from 650 to 800°C over 4 to 48 h in different gas atmospheres, i. e. 100% NH₃ (gas), 100% N₂ (gas and plasma), 20% H₂ + 80% N₂ and 20% Ar + 20% H₂ (plasma). The temperature range was fixed in the middle of (α + β) region, because the core properties are influenced negative in the field of β-transustemperature. The relations between the applied nitriding technologies, the layer structure (chemical, phases, geometrical) and selected layer properties (microroughness, microhardness, fracture and wear behaviour) are described.     

Effects of conventional and active screen plasma nitriding on properties of electroless Ni–B coating

Abstract

In the present study, the properties of nitrided electroless Ni–B coatings prepared by conventional plasma nitriding and active screen plasma nitriding were investigated. For this purpose, electroless Ni–B coatings were deposited from an alkaline bath on AISI 4140 substrates. Then, some of the prepared coatings were plasma nitrided by conventional method and the other ones by active screen method under the same conditions. Microstructure, morphology, microhardness and wear resistance of the coatings were evaluated. Based on the results, post-treatments change the amorphous as deposited coating structure to a crystalline one, which increases microhardness and wear resistance. Employing plasma nitriding treatment on the coatings results in higher microhardness and superior wear resistance than conventional heat treatment. The sputtering of iron atoms during plasma nitriding process can be the main reason for these results. In addition, active screen plasma nitriding demonstrates less surface roughness and superior wear resistance than conventional plasma nitriding.     

Surface modification of electric hair clipper blade for increasing its lifetime

Making the angle of a hair clipper blade edge acute improves its cutting ability but causes the edge to be susceptible to wear, resulting in decreased cutting service life. An enhancement of blade edge hardness of hair clippers by various surface modifications has been studied to increase their wear resistance. Ion nitriding method formed a thick nitrided layer on the mother material surface. PVD and CVD methods formed a fine and thin hard coating at relatively low temperatures. In this study, surface modification by ion plating and plasma CVD methods was carried out to improve the cutting edge qualities of 45° angle blades, material which is used is hardened SUS420J2Mo. The effectiveness was verified by cutting performance lifetime test using artificial hair. It enhanced the cutting performance lifetime of clipper blades more than four times.     

Microstructure and Tribological Properties of Plasma Nitriding Cast CoCrMo Alloy

A medical cast CoCrMo alloy was coated by plasma nitriding process to enhance the wear resistance.The microstructures,phases and micro-hardness of nitrided layers were investigated by atomic force microscopy(AFM),scanning electron microscopy(SEM),X-ray diffraction(XRD) and micro-hardness.Tribological properties were investigated on a pin-on-disc wear tester under 25% bovine serum solutions.The experimental results showed that plasma nitriding was a promising process to produce thick,hard and wear resistant layers on the surface of CoCrMo alloy.The harder CrN and Cr2N phases formed on the plasma nitrided layer with the compact nano-crystalline structure.Compared with the untreated sample,all nitrided samples showed the lower wear rates and higher wear resistance at different applied loads and nitriding temperatures.It was concluded that the improvement of wear resistance could be ascribed to the formation of thicker and harder nitrided layers with the specific microstructures on nitrided surfaces.     

Novel plasma nitriding-oxidizing duplex treatment of AISI 316 austenitic stainless steel

In this work, plasma nitriding and plasma nitriding-oxidizing treatment have been performed on AISI 316 austenitic stainless steel. In order to evaluate its response to this treatment, their microstructures and wear resistance have been compared with conventional plasma nitrided. The treatment of plasma nitriding was performed at temperature of 450 °C for 5 h with gas mixture of N₂/H₂:1/3 whereas plasma nitriding-oxidizing was performed with the same parameters of plasma nitriding and temperature of 450 °C with gas mixture of O₂/H₂:1/5 for 15, 30 and 60 min. The structural, mechanical and tribological properties were analyzed using XRD, SEM, microhardness testing and pin-on-disk tribotesting. The results showed that oxidation treatment reduces wear resistance of plasma nitrided sample under high loads. Furthermore the tribological evaluation indicates that by increasing the oxidation time further reduction of wear resistance can be occurred. In addition, it was found that oxidation treatment after plasma nitriding provides an important improvement in the friction coefficient against a AISI 52100 steel pin and reduces surface roughness.     

Plasma nitriding of steels with severely plastic deformed surfaces

Linear Flow Splitting (LFS) is a new massive forming process, which enables the continuous production of integral bifurcated profiles with ultrafine-grained surface layers. Owing to the uniaxial material flow during LFS, the grains in the ultrafine-grained (UFG)-layer are highly elongated with minimum grain dimensions perpendicular to the split surface. With increasing distance to the split surface, the UFG-microstructure changes into a conventionally strain-hardened microstructure. The microstructural gradient is accompanied by a gradient in hardness and strength with maximum values at the split surface in the UFG-layer. Further improvement of hardness and wear resistance can be achieved by nitriding. In spite of their low thermal stability, earlier investigations demonstrated that nitriding of UFG-microstructures is feasible even at elevated temperatures like 500 °C. But, as most publications are referred to equiaxed grains, it is unclear whether the results can be transferred to LFS-profiles with their highly elongated grains. Whether pancake UFG-microstructures are still beneficial for plasma nitriding is the subject of this work. For this, the microstructure of a linear flow split micro-alloyed HSLA steel is characterized after nitriding and subsequent heat treatment by EBSD and SEM measurements. Mechanical properties are examined by hardness indentations. It is shown that nitriding of pancake-shaped UFG-microstructures is still beneficial in terms of higher compound layer thickness and hardness compared to a strain-hardened microstructure. Moreover, nitriding reduces the grain growth, i.e. stabilizes the UFG-microstructure.     

Einfluss von Werkstoffzustand und chemischer Zusammensetzung auf die Eigenschaften plasmanitrierter austenitischer Stähle

Plasma nitriding offers great potenzial for improving the wear properties of austenitic steels. Here, the austenitic standard grades 1.4307 and 1.4404, as well as the titanium-stabilized grades 1.4541 and 1.4571 were investigated regarding the influence of the material condition on the nitriding result and corrosion behavior. Special focus was put on the influence of the Ti-stabilisation. In addition, it was investigated to what extent corrosion properties are influenced by cold-forming induced defect structures. In comparison to 1.4307 and 1.4404, less nitrogen is incorporated in areas with forming martensite in titanium-stabilized austenitic steels and lower nitriding temperatures, while an increased diffusion of nitrogen is observed, when only slip bands are present. The corrosion resistance is generally improved by the plasma nitriding parameters used for this study. In general, a higher thickness of the S-phase, which forms during the plasma nitriding, results in better corrosion resistance and higher surface hardness. The titanium stabilization inhibits nitrogen diffusion in the presence of deformation induced martensite at lower nitriding temperatures and promotes diffusion in the presence of deformation induced slip bands.     

TVibological Behavior of TiN and TiAIN Deposited on Substrates Plasma Nitrided at Low Pressure

Binary and ternary compounds of TiN and (Ti,Al)N were deposited by magnetron sputtering over low pressure plasma nitrided layer. Tribological behavior under dry-sliding conditions was evaluated with pin-on-ring test machine. The significant process parameters, friction coefficient and contact temperature, were checked with a modern measurement line that includes computer for acquisition and processing of data and monitoring the wear process. The wear zone morphology and characteristics of surface layer structure as well as important properties were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Energy-dispersive x-ray analysis (EDAX) of the wear-scars on pins provided essential information on the wear characteristics. Based on all results the correlation between the surface structure and tribological wear characteristics were explained. It was concluded that formation of the plasma nitrided layer at low pressure, beneath a TiN and (Ti,Al)N over coating, is important in determining the use of hard coating for reducing the wear. An excellent coating to substrate adhesion and low friction coefficient was found to be significant factor influencing the use of plasma nitriding at low pressure.     

Microstructure and mechanical properties of copper–titanium–nitrogen multiphase layers produced by a duplex treatment on C17200 copper–beryllium alloy

In this study, a copper–titanium–nitrogen multiphase coating was fabricated on the surface of C17200 copper–beryllium alloy by deposition and plasma nitriding in order to improve the surface mechanical properties. The phase composition, microstructure and microhardness profiles of the as-obtained multiphase coating were characterized by X-ray diffractometer (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Vickers microhardness measurements, respectively. Pin-on-disk tribometer and SEM equipped with energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) were applied to measure tribological properties and analyze wear mechanisms involved. The XRD results show that the phase composition changes with nitriding temperature. The Ti₂N layer is replaced by a Cu–Ti intermetallic layer when the nitriding temperature is higher than 700 °C. The Cu/Ti ratio in the multiphase coatings remains at a constant value of 2:1 due to the incorporation of nitrogen atoms. The surface hardness achieves a maximum value of 983 HV at 650 °C, and decreases as the nitriding temperature increases. The increased hardness corresponds to the improved wear resistance and decreased frictional coefficient and the surface hardness is proportional to the wear rates. The wear mechanism depends on the phase composition of the multiphase coatings. With the nitriding temperature increasing, the oxidative wear mechanism changes to adhesive and abrasive mode.     

Corrosion resistance of the layers formed on the surface of plasma-nitrided AISI 304L steel

Austenitic stainless steels have good corrosion resistance, but their low hardness and low wear resistance limit their use whenever surface hardness is required. Nitriding treatments have been successfully applied to stainless steels to improve their mechanical and tribological properties; however, at temperatures above 723 K, gas or salt bath nitriding processes decrease the corrosion resistance due to the formation of CrN and other phases within the modified layer. Chromium compounds draw chromium and nitrogen from the adjacent regions, degrading the corrosion resistance. The plasma nitriding technique permits the use of treatment temperatures as low as 623 K without promoting degradation in the corrosion resistance of stainless steel. In this work, the pulsed glow discharge (PGD) technique was used for nitriding steel (AISI304L) in order to investigate the effect of the temperature of this treatment in the morphology and, as a consequence, in the anodic behavior of the formed layers, in solution with and without chloride ions. Four different temperatures were employed (623, 673, 723, and 773 K). The samples were characterized by optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), microhardness measurements, and electrochemical tests with potentiodynamic anodic polarization curves. The nitriding temperature alters the anodic behavior due to a displacement of the polarization curve towards higher currents, in a solution free of chloride ions. In a chloride solution, the nitriding temperature increases the pitting potential up to the oxygen evolution region.     

Pulsed plasma nitriding of large components and coupons of chrome plated SS316LN stainless steel

Pulsed plasma nitriding of electroplated Cr on stainless steel substrates is reported. The properties of the chromium nitride coatings on small coupons synthesised simultaneously with large-scale components have been investigated. The effect of temperature and duration of the nitriding process on the coating properties are discussed. A gradual variation in the hardness profile from a peak harness of about 950 HV at the surface to about 650 HV at 90 μm of case depth has been achieved. The chromium nitride coating was not brittle. The resistance of the coating to abrasive wear was higher than that for Cr. X-ray diffraction and energy dispersive X-ray analysis confirmed that the coating is composed of polycrystalline Cr₂N and Cr indicating that there was partial conversion of the electroplated Cr film to nitride.     

Laser quenching of plasma nitrided 30CrMnSiA steel

30CrMnSiA steel has been commonly used in many industrial applications owing to its excellent mechanical properties. However, raw 30CrMnSiA steel cannot meet the requirements of practical application, such as high surface hardness and superior wear resistance. In practice, plasma nitriding (PN) is usually conducted to strengthen the surface properties of this steel. However conventional plasma nitriding (PN) technique is always hindered by diffusion kinetics. Alternatively, the process of laser quenching (LQ) has been utilized as a unique rapid method for tailoring the surface microstructure and chemical composition to improving the mechanical properties of steels. In the present study, a laser quenching technique (LQ) is utilized as subsequent procedure of typical plasma nitriding treatment process (PN) to improve the surface properties of 30CrMnSiA steel. The microstructure and properties of such layer are compared with those obtained by PN or LQ treatment. OM, XRD, SEM and EDS analysis are conducted for microstructure observation, phase identification, and estimating the nitrogen concentration, respectively. Microhardness tester and pin-on-disc tribometer are used to investigate the mechanical properties of the modified layers. Laser quenching of plasma nitrided (PN + LQ) 30CrMnSiA steel results in great increase in the thickness and hardness of the modified layer comparing with the PN and LQ treatment due to the reduction of eutectoid point caused by introduction of nitrogen. The mechanism is also discussed systematically based on the phase diagram in the paper. Moreover, the layer treated by PN + LQ process exhibits better wear resistance than the PN treated specimen. This is attributed to the formation of retained austenite and Fe₃O₄ according to the XRD analysis, which is beneficial to the improvement of impact toughness and the lubrication action during sliding.