Stress induced and concentration dependent diffusion of nitrogen in plasma nitrided austenitic stainless steel

The nitrogen transport mechanism in austenitic stainless steel during plasma nitriding at moderate temperatures (around 400 °C) is considered by stress induced diffusion model. The model involves diffusion of nitrogen in presence of internal stresses gradient induced by penetrating nitrogen as the next driving force of diffusion after concentration gradient. Furthermore, in the present work it was found that nitrogen diffusion coefficient vary with nitrogen concentration according to well-known Einstein-Smoluchowski relation D(C_N) = f(1/C_N). Nitrogen depth profiles in nitided AISI 316L steel at T = 400 °C for 1, 3 and 8 h calculated on the basis of this model are in good agreement with experimental nitrogen profiles. The dependencies of nitrogen flux and nitriding time on nitrogen concentration, nitrogen surface concentration and penetration depth are analyzed by proposed model. It is shown that, with the increase of nitriding time the compositionally-induced stresses and thickness of stressed steel layer increases.     

Characteristics of the nitrided layer formed on AISI 304 austenitic stainless steel by high temperature nitriding assisted hollow cathode discharge

A series of experiments have been conducted on AISI 304 stainless steel using a hollow cathode discharge assisted plasma nitriding apparatus. Specimens were nitrided at high temperatures (520–560 °C) in order to produce nitrogen expanded austenite phase within a short time. The nitrided specimen was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, potentiodynamic polarization and microhardness tester. The corrosion properties of nitrided samples were evaluated using anodic polarization tests in 3.5% NaCl solution. The nitrided layer was shown to consist of nitrogen expanded austenite and possibly a small amount of CrN precipitates and iron nitrides. The results indicated that rapid nitriding assisted hollow cathode discharge not only increased the surface hardness but also improved the corrosion resistance of the untreated substrate.     

Effect of high temperature post-oxidizing on tribological and corrosion behavior of plasma nitrided AISI 316 austenitic stainless steel

In this research, the microstructure, tribological and corrosion properties of plasma nitrided-oxidized AISI 316 austenitic stainless steel at high oxidation temperature were studied and compared with conventional plasma nitride. The structural, tribological and corrosion properties were analyzed using XRD, SEM, microhardness testing, pin-on-disk tribotesting and electrochemical polarization. Plasma nitriding was conducted for 5 h at 450 °C with gas mixture of N₂/H₂ = 1/3 to produce the S-phase. The nitrided samples were post-oxidized at 500 °C with gas mixture of O₂/H₂ = 1/5 for 15, 30 and 60 min. X-ray diffraction confirmed the development of CrN, ? and γ′ nitride phases and magnetite (Fe₃O₄) oxide phase under plasma nitriding-oxidizing process. In addition, it was found that oxidation treatment after plasma nitriding provides an important improvement in the friction coefficient and the corrosion resistance. The optimized wear and corrosion resistance of post-oxidized samples were obtained after 15 min of oxidation.     

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.     

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.     

Chromizing of plasma nitrided AISI 1045 steel

In this study AISI 1045 steel specimens were plasma nitrided at 803 K for 5 h, in a gas mixture of 75% N₂ + 25% H₂. The specimens were then chromized in powder mixtures consisting of ferrochromium, ammonium chloride and alumina at 1273 K for 5 h. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and Vickers micro-hardness test were used as characterizing techniques. The thickness of white nitrided layer was around 5 μm, which was mainly composed of iron nitrides and its hardness was around 740 HV. Chromizing of nitride layer resulted in formation of Cr₂N chromium nitride and Fe₃N iron nitrides. A significant increase was observed in hardness after chromizing of the nitrided layer. Despite its higher hardness, the post chromised specimen showed higher wear rate than single plasma nitrided specimen.     

Kinetics and wear behaviour of M50NiL steel plasma nitrided at low temperature

The quenched M50NiL steel was plasma nitrided at 460°C for different time to investigate the effects of the duration time on the microstructure, microhardness and wear resistance of the nitrided layers. The results show that the plasma nitrided layer depth increases with increasing nitriding time. The plasma nitrided layer includes only the diffusion layer without compound layer. The main phases in the nitrided surface layer are nitrogen expended α′-Fe and γ′-Fe₄N. The microstructure of the nitrided layer is refined. The wear resistance of the nitrided samples can be improved significantly by plasma nitriding. The sample nitrided for 4?h possesses the highest wear resistance, due to its relatively smooth surface and ultra-fine grains in the nitrided layer.     

Effect of carbon addition on low-temperature plasma nitriding characteristics of austenitic stainless steel

Attempts have been made in the present work to investigate the influence of carbon in the treatment atmosphere on the low-temperature plasma nitriding characteristics of austenitic stainless steels. It was found that treatment gas composition has a significant effect on the structural characteristics of the nitrided layer. The addition of a small amount of carbon-containing gas such as methane (CH₄) to the treatment atmosphere can alter the structural development in the alloyed zone and offer several beneficial effects to the nitriding process. Based on this discovery, a new process has been developed, which involves the simultaneous incorporation of both nitrogen and carbon into the alloyed zone to form a dual-layer structure, which is free from chromium nitride, and carbide precipitates. Such a hybrid structure not only possesses larger layer thickness, high hardness, and more favourable hardness gradient than nitrided-alone layers, but also exhibits much improved corrosion resistance.     

Influence of the microstructure on the corrosion resistance of plasma‐nitrided austenitic stainless steel 304L and 316L

Austenitic stainless steels are widely used in medical and food industries because of their excellent corrosion resistance. However, they suffer from weak wear resistance due to their low hardness. To improve this, plasma nitriding processes have been successfully applied to austenitic stainless steels, thereby forming a thin and very hard diffusion layer, the so‐called S‐phase. In the present study, the austenitic stainless steels AISI 304L and AISI 316L with different microstructures and surface modifications were used to examine the influence of the steel microstructure on the plasma nitriding behavior and corrosion properties. In a first step, solution annealed steel plates were cold‐rolled with 38% deformation degree. Then, the samples were prepared with three kinds of mechanical surface treatments. The specimens were plasma nitrided for 360 min in a H₂–N₂ atmosphere at 420 °C. X‐ray diffraction measurements confirmed the presence of the S‐phase at the sample surface, austenite and body centered cubic (bcc)‐iron. The specimens were comprehensively characterized by means of optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction, surface roughness and nano‐indentation measurements to provide the formulation of dependencies between microstructure and nitriding behavior. The corrosion behavior was examined by potentio‐dynamic polarization measurements in 0.05 M and 0.5 M sulfuric acid and by salt spray testing.     

Features of austenitic steels' microstructure following plastic deformation

The carried out transmission electron microscopic (TEM) analysis of steels 316L and TWIP, has shown that important mechanisms of plastic deformation are mechanical twinning, shear band formation and deformation martensitic transformations. Mechanical twinning is a characteristic feature of a plastic deformation at ε ≈ (20–50) % deformation degrees. At ε = (20–70) % the basic contribution in plastic deformation of a material brings shear band formation. The contribution deformation martensitic transformations into plastic deformation is defined by level of phase instability of steels.     

The effect of pre-strain on tensile behaviour of 316L austenitic stainless steel

ABSTRACT

The effect of pre-strain on tensile behaviour of 316L austenitic stainless steel was investigated, focusing on strain rate sensitivity, temperature sensitivity and strain hardening. Experimental data showed that strain rate sensitivity, temperature sensitivity and strain hardening were weakening with pre-strain. Meanwhile, the variation of microstructure with pre-strain was observed by optical microscopy, scanning electronic microscopy and X-ray diffraction. Then, the mechanical properties of pre-strained material were correlated with the increase in dislocation density and mechanical twinning with pre-strain. Finally, an improved Arrhenius-PS model considering the effect of pre-strain was developed.

This paper is part of a thematic issue on Nuclear Materials.     

Influence of electron beam deflection techniques used during the cladding process on the wear and corrosion behaviour of cobalt‐based protective coatings on austenitic stainless steel

The present work aims to improve the wear resistance of the austenitic stainless steel X6CrNiMoTi17‐12‐2. In view of the potential use of this alloy, however, corrosion resistance should be maintained where possible. An electron beam surface treatment (cladding) was performed, and the cobalt‐based alloy Stellite® 12 was used as the wear‐resistant material. The presented results show the effects of several electron beam oscillation figures during the cladding process with regard to layer bonding, microstructure formation and hardness. The surface hardness achieved was 576±18 HV 0.3, almost three times higher than that of the base material (203±3 HV 0.3). The scratch energy density – which represents the resistance to abrasive wear – could be increased by a factor of 1.5. Under abrasive‐adhesive stress loading conditions, the determined wear volume decreased by a factor of almost 5. Based on the corrosion investigations carried out, it was possible to prove that in comparison to the base material, the tendency towards pitting corrosion could be almost completely suppressed.     

Application of Taguchi method in optimizing the microstructure of 316LN austenitic stainless steel

The hot deformation behavior of AISI 316LN austenitic stainless steel was studied through isothermal hot deformation tests conducted on Gleeble 1500 thermo‐simulation machine. By using Taguchi method with an L16 (4³) orthogonal array, the hot deformation conditions including deformation temperature, strain rate and strain were optimized for obtaining minimum mean grain size of the steel. Analysis of variance was used for determining the effect of the hot deformation parameters on the mean grain size. The results suggested that the strain had the most significant effect on the mean grain size among the three factors. The percent contributions of deformation temperature, strain rate and strain to the mean grain size were 0.80 %, 2.45 % and 93.32 %, respectively. Finally, the confirmation experiment under the optimum conditions, i.e., 1050 °C temperature, 0.01 s^–1 strain rate and 0.7 strain was carried out. The observational mean grain size (11.4 μm) is approximately twelve times smaller than that of the initial microstructure.     

一种新型核级奥氏体不锈钢焊接接头的晶间腐蚀研究

利用"不锈钢硫酸-硫酸铜腐蚀实验"、光学显微镜和扫描电镜等测试方法分别对未敏化和经敏化处理(650℃×100 h)的800H和新型Cr18Ni30Mo2Al3Nb合金焊接接头的抗晶间腐蚀性能进行研究,结果表明,800H和Cr18Ni30Mo2Al3Nb接头焊缝组织均为单一的奥氏体基体,800H合金中TiN缺陷处易引起点蚀,而Cr18Ni30Mo2Al3Nb无明显点蚀现象;对比腐蚀失重、腐蚀深度等实验结果,未敏化和敏化态Cr18Ni30Mo2Al3Nb焊接接头的抗晶间腐蚀性能明显优于相同状态的800H。     

Research on new rapid and deep plasma nitriding techniques of AISI 420 martensitic stainless steel

Cyclic plasma oxynitriding and cyclic plasma nitriding catalyzed by rare earth La of AISI 420 martensitic stainless steel were performed and compared with conventional plasma nitriding. The nitrided layers were investigated by means of an optical microscope, microhardness tester, Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), X-ray diffraction (XRD), wear machine, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The results show that the wear resistance of AISI 420 martensitic stainless steel is improved significantly by the two new rapid and deep plasma nitriding techniques. The new techniques increase the surface hardness of the nitrided layers and make the microhardness profiles gentler, which are consistent with the nitrogen concentration depth profiles. Meanwhile, the nitrided effect improves with increasing cycles. It was also found that the optimum phase compositions of nitrided layers with more γ′ phases and less ? phases for long-term service conditions can be obtained by the two new techniques, which is in agreement with the microstructure. In addition, traces of Fe₃O₄ were found in the cyclic plasma oxynitrided sample. Combining the SEM and EDS analysis indicated the existence of La in the nitrided layer of the sample under cyclic plasma nitriding catalyzed by rare earth La.     

Fatigue crack growth of a metastable austenitic stainless steel

The fatigue crack growth behavior of an austenitic metastable stainless steel AISI 301LN in the Paris region is investigated in this work. The fatigue crack growth rate curves are evaluated in terms of different parameters such as the range of stress intensity factor ΔK, the effective stress intensity factor ΔK_eff, and the two driving force parameter proposed by Kujawski K¹.The finite element method is used to calculate the stress intensity factor of the specimens used in this investigation. The new stress intensity factor solution has been proved to be an alternative to explain contradictory results found in the literature.Fatigue crack propagation tests have been carried out on thin sheets with two different microstructural conditions and different load ratios. The influence of microstructural and mechanical variables has been analyzed using different mechanisms proposed in the literature. The influence of the compressive residual stress induced by the martensitic transformation is determined by using a model based on the proposal of McMeeking et al. The analyses demonstrate the necessity of including K_max as a true driving force for the fatigue crack growth. A combined parameter is proposed to explain the effects of different variables on the fatigue crack growth rate curves. It is found that along with residual stresses, the microcracks and microvoids are other factor affecting the fatigue crack growth rate in the steel studied.     

The study of tribological and corrosion behavior of plasma nitrided 34CrNiMo6 steel under hot and cold wall conditions

This paper reports on a comparative study of tribological and corrosion behavior of plasma nitrided 34CrNiMo6 low alloy steel under modern hot wall condition and conventional cold wall condition. Plasma nitriding was carried out at 500 °C and 550 °C with a 25% N₂ + 75% H₂ gas mixture for 8 h. The wall temperature of the chamber in hot wall condition was set to 400 °C. The treated specimens were characterized by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), microhardness and surface roughness techniques. The wear test was performed by pin-on-disc method. Potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) tests were also used to evaluate the corrosion resistance of the samples. The results demonstrated that in both nitriding conditions, wear and corrosion resistance of the treated samples decrease with increasing temperature from 500 °C to 550 °C. Moreover, nitriding under hot wall condition at the same temperature provided slightly better tribological and corrosion behavior in comparison with cold wall condition. In consequence, the lowest friction coefficient, and highest wear and corrosion resistance were found on the sample treated under hot wall condition at 500 °C, which had the maximum surface hardness and ε-Fe_2–3N phase.     

Structure and wear resistance of the composite layers produced by glow discharge nitriding and PLD method on AISI 316L austenitic stainless steel

The rapid technical development enhances the demands on constructional materials in terms of their resistance to frictional wear, resistance to corrosion and erosion, high hardness, high tensile and fatigue strength. These demands can be satisfied by e.g. applying various surface engineering techniques that permit to modify the microstructure, phase and chemical composition of the surface layers of the treated parts. A prospective line of the development of surface engineering is the production of composite layers by combining various surface engineering methods. The paper presents the results of examinations of the phase composition and frictional wear resistance of the layers produced by hybrid processes, i.e. such that combined glow discharge assisted nitriding performed at 450 °C and 550 °C with a pulsed laser deposition of boron nitride coatings (PLD method). It has been shown that the boron nitride coatings formed on nitrided AISI 316L steel increase its frictional wear resistance.     

基于S35140钢的超低碳成分设计和力学性能研究

S35140钢是一种基于25Ni-20Cr的奥氏体耐热钢,为了获得高强度,通常会提高碳含量,但碳含量较高不利于高温时效稳定性和长期耐腐蚀性能.本文在S35140钢的基础上,大幅度降低碳含量,并通过调控N和Nb等微合金元素含量,以及加入Ti元素,促使析出新的强化相,弥补减少碳含量所导致的强度降低.同时引入一定量的Al元素...