Effect of Electric Potentials on Microstructure, Corrosion and Wear Characteristic of the Nitrided Layer Prepared on 2Cr13 Stainless Steel by Plasma Nitriding

doi:10.1007/s40195-018-0836-z

Abstract

Abstract:

Plasma nitriding is a widely used technology to enhance the surface performance and extend the service life of alloy parts. The current research mainly focuses on the influences of time, temperature, gas type and pressure parameters on nitriding behavior, while fewer studies have been conducted on the electric potential. This paper mainly reports the effect of the electric potential on nitriding behavior. Test conditions were set using cathodic, anodic and floating potentials in a plasma nitriding furnace. 2Cr13 stainless steel was nitrided at 450 °C for 5 h in an NH₃ atmosphere. The experimental results show that the nitriding treatment can be well performed under the different electric potentials, but differences exist in microstructures, morphologies and performance results of the modified layers. The thickness and hardness values of the nitrided layer are ranked as follows: cathodic＞anodic＞floating potential. The anodic nitrided surface has an obvious particle deposition layer composed of nitrides and oxides. Electrochemical and tribological experiments show that the corrosion resistance and wear resistance were significantly improved after a nitriding treatment using the three electric potentials. Moreover, the floating nitriding treatment resulted in the best tribological performance and corrosion resistance.

Key words: Nitriding, Stainless, steel, Wear, Corrosion

Li Yang, Zhang Shang-Zhou, Qiu Jian-Xun, He Yong-Yong, Xiu Jun-Jie, Ye Qian-Wen, Liu Zhong-Li. Effect of Electric Potentials on Microstructure, Corrosion and Wear Characteristic of the Nitrided Layer Prepared on 2Cr13 Stainless Steel by Plasma Nitriding[J]. Acta Metallurgica Sinica (English Letters), 2019, 32(6): 733-745.

Figures/Tables 15

Table 1 Chemical compositions (wt.%) of 2Cr13 and 20Cr steels

	C	Cr	Mn	Si	Fe
2Cr13	0.25	12.5-13.0	0.3-0.5	<?0.50	Bal.
20Cr	0.18-0.24	0.70-1.00	0.50-0.80	0.17-0.37	Bal.

Fig. 1 Schematic representation of the plasma nitriding experimental setup

Fig. 2 XRD patterns of the untreated and the different nitrided samples

Fig. 3 OM cross-sectional micrographs of samples nitrided at the different potentials

Fig. 4 a-c SEM cross-sectional micrographs of samples nitrided at the different potentials. d TEM cross-sectional micrograph of the cathodic nitrided sample

Fig. 5 SEM surface micrographs of the different nitrided samples

Fig. 6 Surface roughness of the untreated and nitrided samples

Fig. 7 AFM surface micrographs of the different samples: a untreated, b cathodic, c anodic, d floating

Fig. 8 XPS deconvoluted profiles for Fe 2p3/2a, Cr 2p3/2b, N 1sc, O 1sd peaks on the surface of the samples nitrided using cathodic (I), anodic (II) and floating potentials (III)

Fig. 9 Surface hardness of the untreated and nitrided samples

Fig. 10 Polarization curves of untreated and nitrided samples in a 3.5 wt.% NaCl water solution

Fig. 11 SEM surface images of the untreated and nitrided samples after the polarization tests

Fig. 12 The variation of friction coefficient versus time of the untreated and nitrided samples

Fig. 13 White light interferometer results of the worn surfaces of the different samples: a untreated, b cathodic, c anodic, d floating

Fig. 14 SEM and EDS results of the worn surfaces of the different samples: a, b untreated; c, d cathodic; e, f anodic; g, h floating

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