Plasma nitriding of 410S ferritic/martensitic stainless steel: microstructure, wear and corrosion properties
Nitretação sob plasma do aço inoxidável ferrítico/martensítico 410S: microestrutura e propriedades em desgaste e corrosão
Luiz Bernardo Varela Jimenez; Milena Tosti Umemura; José Wilmar Calderón-Hernández; Rodrigo Magnabosco; Carlos Eduardo Pinedo; André Paulo Tschiptschin
Abstract
In this work, plasma nitriding treatments were performed on ferritic/martensitic stainless steel type 410S at 400 ºC (Low-temperature Plasma Nitriding - LTPN) and 530 ºC (Conventional Plasma Nitriding - CPN). The treatments were carried out under a 75% N2 -25% H2 gas mixture for 20 hours. After LTPN, a layer composed of expanded ferrite/martensite with a minor fraction of iron nitrides was obtained. In CPN, the nitrided surface consists of an outermost compound layer 15 μm thick followed by a diffusion zone with a depth of 170 μm. After both, CPN and LTPN nitriding treatments, the surface hardness increases more than four times compared to the original hardness of the non-nitrided steel and results in a flat-type transverse hardening profile for CPN and a diffuse-type profile for LTPN. The friction coefficients in the CPN and LTPN conditions, evaluated by the progressive linear scratching test, are lower than the condition without nitriding. The wear rate after nitriding is half that found for the non-nitriding condition. The corrosion resistance evaluated by immersion test in an aqueous solution with 3% FeCl3 for 88 hours shows that the behavior after LTPN is the same as in the non-nitrided condition, while for the CPN, the mass loss is higher and, therefore, the corrosion resistance is smaller than that observed for the LTPN. The precipitation of chromium nitrides during CPM nitriding leads to chromium depletion in the metal matrix. The results show the feasibility of promoting surface hardening of type 410S stainless steel by nitriding at low temperatures and improving the tribological properties without compromising corrosion resistance.
Keywords
Resumo
Neste trabalho foram realizados tratamentos sob plasma no aço inoxidável ferrítico/martensítico tipo 410S a baixa temperatura 400 ºC (LTPN) e na temperatura convencional de 530 ºC (CPN). Os tratamentos foram realizados sob uma mistura gasosa composta de 75% N2 -25% H2 por 20 horas. Após a LTPN foi obtida uma camada composta por ferrita/ martensita expandida com uma fração minoritária de nitretos de ferro. Na CPN a superfície nitretada é constituída da camada de compostos com 15 μm de espessura seguida pela zona de difusão com 170 μm de profundidade. Após os tratamentos de nitretação CPN e LTPN a dureza superficial aumenta até mais de 4 vezes a dureza original do aço não nitretado e resulta em um perfil de endurecimento transversal do tipo plano para a CPN e do tipo difuso para a LTPN. Os coeficientes de atrito nas condições CPN e LTPN, avaliados por ensaio de riscamento linear progressivo, são inferiores à condição sem nitretação. A taxa de desgaste após a nitretação é a metade da encontrada para a condição sem nitretação. A resistência à corrosão avaliada por ensaio de imersão em uma solução aquosa com 3% FeCl3 por 88 horas mostra que o comportamento após a LTPN é igual ao da condição não nitretada, enquanto para a CPN a perda de massa é superior e, portanto, menor que a observada para a LTPN. A precipitação de nitretos de cromo, durante a nitretação CPM, conduz ao empobrecimento de cromo na matriz metálica. Os resultados mostram que é possível promover o endurecimento superficial do aço tipo 410S por nitretação a baixa temperatura com melhoria nas propriedades tribológicas sem comprometimento da resistência à corrosão.
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Submitted date:
10/21/2022
Accepted date:
05/19/2023