Boriding and boronitrocarburising effects on hardness,wear and corrosion behavior of AISI 4130 steel

Abstract

The effects of boriding and boronitrocarburising surface treatments on the microstructure and mechanical properties of AISI 4130 steel have been investigated. Pack boriding was carried out at 1223 K for 5 h and 8 h, while the double treatment of boronitrocarburising consisted of salt bath nitrocarburising at 853 K for 6 h followed by pack boriding at the same temperature and times as the boriding treatment. Microstructure examination of the borided and boronitrocarburised layers was carried out using optical and scanning electron microscopy, and phase identification was obtained using X-ray diffraction. Vickers hardness, wear and corrosion weight loss tests were used to evaluate the mechanical properties and corrosion behaviour. The results of X-ray diffraction analysis revealed the presence of superhard phases such as FeB, Fe 2 B, CrB, MnB and MnB 2 , indicating that pack boriding surface treatment conducted at 1223 K for 8 h exhibited the highest hardness, low coefficient of friction and the greatest wear resistance. Boronitrocarburising treatment, on the other hand, caused a reduction in both the depth of iron borides zone and mechanical properties compared to the boriding surface treatment. These recommended treatments offer to industrialists a particular contribution and interest in the development of these steels, which can be applied in various fields.

Investigation of friction and wear resistance of carbonitrided AISI 4130 steels using single and multi-pass scratch technique

“…Several attempts have been made to improve the wear and corrosion properties of AISI 4130 by applied a thermochemical treatment. Ramdane et al 4 have used the boriding and boro-nitrocarburizing to improve the wear and corrosion behavior of AISI 4130 steel. The authors found that the boriding treatment exhibited the lowest COF, wear and corrosion rate, compared to boro-nitrocarburizing treatments.…”

“…Few researchers have discussed the wear resistance of carbonitrided low alloy steel, 4 and austenitic stainless steel using a classic tribological system based on the ball-on-disk tribo-tester, 17 or pin-on-disc. 18 Recently the multi-pass scratch test, has been introduced as a less costly and faster technique to examine surfaces behavior.…”

Surface modification method of duplex type stainless steels by the pack boriding process

“…Good method to improve the material wear characteristics is by surface treatment. Among many surface treatment methods such as nitriding, carburizing, and nitrocarburizing, the boriding process based on the chemical treatment of the surface, was shown to result in increased hardness [6]. This process is not widely applicable in many industries unlike the conventional processes, even though it has many advantages likeproducing materials with high wear resistance, high galling property and good corrosion resistance [7].…”

“…The dual phase layer FeB and Fe 2 B are formed on the outer surface and the growth kinetics are investigated by the analysis of the penetration depth of FeB and Fe 2 B [10]. For low alloy steels the formation of FeB and Fe 2 B increases the thickness of the boride layer as compared to that in high alloy steels because of the affinity of boron atoms for iron [6]. The FeB layer is harder than the Fe 2 B layer, which promotes brittleness and surface defects on the material [11].…”

Metallurgical Characterization and Kinetics of Borided 34CrNiMo6 Steel

“…In the literature, studies are available on the boride layer growth kinetics of mediumcarbon low-alloy steels such as 34CrAlNi7, AISI 1020-1035, AISI 4130 and AISI 4140 [20][21][22][23][24]. However, at the time of this paper, there are no studies that describe the boriding properties of 34CrNiMo6 steel in detail.…”