Papers by Keyword: Compound Layer

Abstract: When steel is nitrided, a compound layer mainly composed of iron nitrides, ε-Fe_2~3N and the γ’-Fe₄N phase, is formed on the steel surface. It is an extremely important industrial issue to clarify factors governing the formation of the compound layer during nitriding and to establish unified views on the mechanism of compound layer formation. Therefore, in order to clarify the effect of change in carbon concentration on the growth of the ε phase and the γ’ phase in the compound layer on nitrided steel, we evaluated the change over time in the concentration of the alloy elements in the surface layer, and the phases of the compound layer on nitrided steels containing various amount of carbon in the matrix. The results were that the change over time in the carbon concentration in the compound layer was mainly responsible for the change over time in the phases of the compound layer. Furthermore, it was discovered that the change over time in the carbon concentration distribution occurred because both increasing of carbon from the matrix to the compound layer, and decreasing of carbon from the surface of compound layer to the atmosphere. That caused the gradient change of chemical potential of carbon in the through-thickness direction of compound layer, and the phases of the compound layer were changed with the treatment time.

Abstract: In this study, tool steel substrates were plasma-nitrocarburised at different processing parameters and afterwards tribologically tested under non-lubricated sliding conditions. It was observed that the micromechanical properties of the compound layer (thickness, hardness, roughness, surface topography) strongly affect the tribological behaviour of the nitrocarburised surface and can be tailored through the adjustment of the nitrocarburising parameters so that very favourable wear and friction behaviours can be achieved.

Abstract: Nitrocarburized steel surfaces are often used in tribological forming applications due to their beneficial sliding properties. One typical application field can be found in bending machines where the nitrocarburized layer can withstand massive volume loss and prevent from adhesion of the work sheet material. However, under non-lubricated sliding conditions abrupt failure of the nitrocarburized layer can occur, which results in pronounced increase of friction and wear. In order to characterise the wear mechanisms of nitrocarburized surfaces under non-lubricated sliding conditions, a lab-scale study was carried out. Different nitrocarburizing processes including plasma, gas and salt bath nitrocarburizing were investigated. Oscillating sliding tests with DIN 100Cr6 bearing steel cylinder sliding against nitrocarburized plate were performed at contact pressures typical for bending machines. Evaluation of wear was performed by white-light interferometer with measurements of the wear-scar topography and a subsequent calculation of the average wear depth. A strong influence of the nitrocarburizing process on friction and wear behaviour was observed. This behaviour could be correlated with the microstructure of the compound layer.

Abstract: This paper studies the properties of 1Cr18Ni9Ti/Q235 compound steel, it mainly introduces TIG and SMAW comprehensive welding technique of 1Cr18Ni9Ti/Q235 compound steel. This process adopts stepped groove, welding material and technics are chosen according to base layer and compound layer, the boundary of both base and compound layer are welded respectively, welding sequence is reasonably arranged. Experiments proves that corrosion resistance and compactness of the welding joint are good, welding joint strength is high, welding quality meets operating requirement well.

Abstract: The present investigation is on the microstructure evolution and hardness of powder metallurgically processed Al- 0.5 wt.%Mg base 10 wt.% short steel fiber reinforced composites. The 0.38 wt.% C short steel fibers of average diameter 50μm and 500-800μm length were nitrided and chromized in a fluid bed furnace. Nitriding was carried out at 525°C for 90, 30 and 5 min durations. Chromizing was performed at 950°C for 53 and 7 min durations, using thermal reactive deposition (TRD) and diffusion technique. The treated fibers and resulting reaction interfaces were characterized using metallographic, microhardness and XRD techniques.

Abstract: The 32CrMoV13 low alloy steel was gas nitrided at 550°C, for three time durations (6.5, 13 and 20 h) and under a variable nitriding potential (1, 2.2 and 6 atm-0.5). The generated nitride layers were characterized by SEM observations, XRD and GDOS analyses as well as microhardness testing. The XRD analysis indicates that the compound layer was composed of and iron nitrides and CrN phase. The surface hardness (inside the compound layer) was found to be dependent on the nitriding potential value, its value increases as rises. It was shown by GDOS analysis that the upper and lower nitrogen concentrations at the (compound layer / diffusion zone) interface are approximatively: 4 and 0.88 wt. % N, respectively.

Abstract: Ultrasonic and rotating bending fatigue tests were carried out for aged and nitrided Ni-base super alloys to investigate the effects of loading frequency and nitriding on fatigue strength. Loading frequencies were 19.5 kHz under ultrasonic and 50 Hz under rotating bending, respectively. Fatigue strength under ultrasonic was higher than that under rotating bending in both alloys. Moreover, in both tests, fatigue strength was improved by nitriding. The increase in fatigue strength by nitriding was large in ultrasonic fatigue. These results were discussed through the successive observation of fatigue process at specimen surface and fracture surface observation.

Abstract: In order to investigate the effect of nitriding on the crack initiation and propagation behavior of Ni-base super alloy, Alloy 718, rotating bending fatigue tests were carried out until 108 cycles at room temperature. By nitriding at 500°C for 12h, compound layer of about 5μm in thickness was formed and the initiation of a fatigue crack was strongly suppressed causing the increase in fatigue strength. A crack initiated in brittle manner at the compound layer in all of fractures. However the crack propagated in ductile manner controlled by the property of the base alloy. That is, there is no or little influence of nitriding on the crack growth rate of the alloy.

Abstract: This work deals with a study of the nitriding potential effect on development of the compound layer during the gas nitriding of Armco Fe samples. The gas nitriding experiments were performed in an atmosphere of partially dissociated gas ammonia (NH3) at 520 °C under a nitriding potential varying from 0.25 to 3.5 atm-0.5 during 2 h. Through this experimental work including XRD analysis, optical and SEM observations of the cross-sections of the treated samples, it is shown that the microstructural nature of the compound layer depends upon the nitriding potential value. By use of the inverse problem based on a diffusion model previously published, it was possible to estimate the diffusion coefficient of N in ' iron nitride as a function of the applied nitriding potential. XRD analysis has shown that the compound layer was composed of iron nitride. A linear semi-logarithmic relationship relating the nitriding potential to the diffusion coefficient of nitrogen in iron nitride was also derived.

Abstract: When a cylindrical projectile is impact-welded to a flat target, a compound layer is usually observed at the joining interface as a result of the impact welding. In this study, the formation process of the compound layer was formulated as a moving boundary problem, which is a phase transformation technique. The numerical results were compared with the experiment results obtained using an aluminum projectile and stainless steel target. Numerical analysis shows that the melting area is similar to the temperature profile given at the boundary face. The area of the compound layer formed at the joining interface almost agrees with the melting area of the target. The profile of the compound layer is similar to the triangular temperature profile in the given temperature profiles. The mixing ratio of the melting weights of aluminum and stainless steel obtained by the numerical analysis strongly depends on the temperature rise at the interface. The melted weight of aluminum in the experiment is somewhat greater than that in the numerical analysis. The heat conduction analysis including deformation of the projectile and target make the results of the numerical analysis closer to the experimental results.