In this study we examined the influence of nitrocarburizing holding time on the surface microstructures and erosion behavior of JIS SKD11 modified cold-work tool steel (DC11 tool steel). The steel was nitrocarburized at 570°C for varying durations of 1, 3, and 5 h. The microstructures and hardness of the nitrocarburized coatings were then analyzed. Particle erosion was examined at different impinging angles (15-90°) and impact speeds (20.2-45.6 m/s).The results show that a single diffusion zone is formed on the specimens at 1 h nitrocarburizing while a compound layer together with diffusion zone are formed on the specimens for the nitrocarburizing time beyond 3 h. In addition, the compound layer formed on the specimens exhibits a higher erosion resistance. The nitrocarburizing treatment not only increases the surface hardness but also improves the erosion resistance of the experimental steel. This improvement in erosion rates is more obvious at higher impact speeds and lower impinging angles. The maximum erosion rate appears at an impinging angle of 30°for all specimens. In this condition, plough grooves and cutting lips appear in the eroded surface; however, the erosion tracks are more superficial for nitrocarburized specimens than untreated specimen. The exponent in the power law E˙ϭkV n varied between 1.9-2.3 for impinging angles between 15°and 90°.KEY WORDS: tool steel; nitrocarburizing; erosion; surface structure; microhardness.cal composition, analyzed using a glow-discharge optical emission spectroscope (GDOS), is shown in Table 1. Square specimens of size 50 mmϫ35 mmϫ10 mm were cut from the plate for erosion tests. A hole with 3-mm diameter was drilled into each specimen, and a steel wire was threaded through it to facilitate loading of the specimens into the salt bath. Before nitrocarburizing treatment, the specimens were ground using #1200 silicon carbide (SiC) paper and subsequently cleaned with acetone and methanol. Finally, they were dried and loaded into the salt bath. Before immersion into the salt bath, the specimens were preheated in an air-circulated furnace at 350°C for 1 h. The nitrocarburizing treatment was carried out at 570°C in a salt bath (mainly containing dissolved potassium and sodium cyanates and a small quantity of carbonate salt) for different durations of 1, 3, and 5 h, followed by slow cooling in air down to ambient temperature. After nitrocarburizing treatment, all the specimens were cleaned ultrasonically in acetone for 15 min. In this study, the untreated specimen and the specimens nitrocarburized for 1, 3, and 5 h were designated as NC-0, NC-1, NC-3, and NC-5, respectively.Nitrided layers were examined using an optical microscope (OM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) investigations of the nitrided layer were carried out using X-ray diffractometer (XRD-6000) with Cu Ka radiation. Microhardness tests of the specimens were carried out in a Vickers hardness tester, under a small load of 50 g for 15 s. An average hardness value based on six measurements was obtained from representativ...