Salt Bath Oxinitriding of Gray Cast Iron

Abstract

Salt bath oxinitriding is a duplex surface treatment developed to improve tribological and corrosion properties of ferrous materials. In this research, gray cast iron samples were nitrided at the temperature range of 480°C–580°C, and then oxidized in an oxidative salt bath. The phase composition of surface layer was identified by X-ray diffraction. Using a microhardness tester, hardness of nitrided gray cast iron was measured. Corrosion behavior of treated (nitrided and oxinitrided) samples was evaluated using potentiodynamic polarization technique in 3.5% NaCl solution. XRD analyses indicate that the surface layer in nitrided and oxinitrided samples is composed of ε-iron nitride ( Fe 2-3 N ) and magnetite ( Fe 3 O 4), respectively. Results show that the corrosion resistance of gray cast iron can be improved up to 170%.