No abstract

No abstract

To solve a number of technological issues, it is advisable to use mathematical modeling, which will allow us to obtain the dependences of the influence of the technological parameters of chemical and thermal treatment processes on forming the depth of the diffusion layers of steels and alloys. The paper presents mathematical modeling of diffusion processes based on the existing chemical and thermal treatment of steel parts. Mathematical modeling is considered on the example of 38Cr2MoAl steel after gas nitriding. The gas nitriding technology was carried out at different temperatures for a duration of 20, 50, and 80 h in the SSHAM-12.12/7 electric furnace. When modeling the diffusion processes of surface hardening of parts in general, providing a specifically given distribution of nitrogen concentration over the diffusion layer’s depth from the product’s surface was solved. The model of the diffusion stage is used under the following assumptions: The diffusion coefficient of the saturating element primarily depends on temperature changes; the metal surface is instantly saturated to equilibrium concentrations with the saturating atmosphere; the surface layer and the entire product are heated unevenly, that is, the product temperature is a function of time and coordinates. Having satisfied the limit, initial, and boundary conditions, the temperature distribution equations over the diffusion layer’s depth were obtained. The final determination of the temperature was solved by an iterative method. Mathematical modeling allowed us to get functional dependencies for calculating the temperature distribution over the depth of the layer and studying the influence of various factors on the body’s temperature state of the body.

The relevant problem is searching for up-to-date methods to improve tools and machine parts’ performance due to the hardening of surface layers. This article shows that, after the magnetic-pulse treatment of bearing steel Cr15, its surface microhardness was increased by 40–50% compared to baseline. In this case, the depth of the hardened layer was 0.08–0.1 mm. The magnetic-pulse processing of hard alloys reduces the coefficient of microhardness variation from 0.13 to 0.06. A decrease in the coefficient of variation of wear resistance from 0.48 to 0.27 indicates the increased stability of physical and mechanical properties. The nitriding of alloy steels was accelerated 10-fold that of traditional gas upon receipt of the hardened layer depth of 0.3–0.5 mm. As a result, the surface hardness was increased to 12.7 GPa. Boriding in the nano-dispersed powder was accelerated 2–3-fold compared to existing technologies while ensuring surface hardness up to 21–23 GPa with a boride layer thickness of up to 0.073 mm. Experimental data showed that the cutting tool equipped with inserts from WC92Co8 and WC79TiC15 has a resistance relative to the untreated WC92Co8 higher by 183% and WC85TiC6Co9—than 200%. Depending on alloy steel, nitriding allowed us to raise wear resistance by 120–177%, boriding—by 180–340%, and magneto-pulse treatment—by more than 183–200%.

Increasing both the service life and the wear resistance of the tool by surface hardening is an urgent issue. Its solution contributes to a significant increase in the performance of products. Available methods of surface hardening of tools, based on coating or changing the surface condition, are becoming increasingly important due to the complexity of the operation of products. Plates made of the T5K10 (85%WC–6%TiC–9%Co) and T15K6 (79%WC–15%TiC–6%Co) hard alloys as well as cylindrical samples made of the W6Mo5Cr4V2 and W18Cr4V high-speed steels are used for the study. Studies have shown that, after processing the T15K6 alloy plates with a pulsed magnetic field, the cutting tool life improved by more than 200% as compared to the untreated ones. The proposed method will increase the strength of carbide plates and stabilize the physical and mechanical properties of the cutting tool. For tools made of alloy steels, the hardening treatment is carried out by the boron method in pastes with nanodisperse powders. As shown, the thickness of the boride layer for high-speed steels increases with the duration of the process; however, its growth rate depends on the composition of the steel. An increase in the holding time of the chemical and thermal treatment leads to the growth of boride layers. The layer thickness changes quadratically (as a second-degree polynomial) with duration time. A feature of formation of diffusion layers is revealed. The dependences of both the surface hardness and the thickness of boride layer on the borating time for high-speed steels are also shown. Studies have shown that boriding in a nanodisperse medium can significantly increase the wear resistance of steels. The method of expert assessments of the maximum values of the surface properties of the studied steels is carried out. As shown, it is more rational to use W6Mo5Cr4V2 steel as a cutting tool after hardening the surface layer by boriding in a nanodisperse boron-containing powder. The proposed processing method demonstrates the prospects of using it to improve the performance of products. In addition, this method of hardening can significantly increase the wear resistance of materials (by ≈3.38–3.75 times) as compared to steels without processing.