Federico Bottoli

Influence of Plastic Deformation on Low-Temperature Surface Hardening of Austenitic Stainless Steel by Gaseous Nitriding

This article addresses an investigation of the influence of plastic deformation on low-temperature surface hardening by gaseous nitriding of two commercial stainless steels: EN 1.4369 and AISI 304. The materials were plastically deformed to several levels of equivalent strain by conventional tensile straining, plane strain compression, and shear. Gaseous nitriding of the strained material was performed in ammonia gas at atmospheric pressure at various temperatures. Microstructural characterization of the as-deformed state and the nitrided case produced included X-ray diffraction analysis, reflected-light microscopy, and microhardness testing. The results demonstrate that a case of expanded austenite develops and that the presence of plastic deformation has a significant influence on the morphology of the nitrided case. The presence of strain-induced martensite favors the formation of CrN, while a high dislocation density in a fully austenitic structure does not lead to such premature nucleation of CrN.

Low-Temperature Nitriding of Deformed Austenitic Stainless Steels with Various Nitrogen Contents Obtained by Prior High-Temperature Solution Nitriding

In the past decades, high nitrogen steels (HNS) have been regarded as substitutes for conventional austenitic stainless steels because of their superior mechanical and corrosion properties. However, the main limitation to their wider application is their expensive production process. As an alternative, high-temperature solution nitriding has been applied to produce HNS from three commercially available stainless steel grades (AISI 304L, AISI 316, and EN 1.4369). The nitrogen content in each steel alloy is varied and its influence on the mechanical properties and the stability of the austenite investigated. Both hardness and yield stress increase and the alloys remain ductile. In addition, strain-induced transformation of austenite to martensite is suppressed, which is beneficial for subsequent low-temperature nitriding of the surface of deformed alloys. The combination of high- and low-temperature nitriding results in improved properties of both bulk and surface.

Effect of Plastic Pre-straining on Residual Stress and Composition Profiles in Low-Temperature Surface-Hardened Austenitic Stainless Steel

The present work deals with the evaluation of the residual stress profiles in expanded austenite by applying grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GI-XRD) combined with successive sublayer removal. Annealed and deformed (εeq=0.5) samples of stable stainless steel EN 1.4369 were nitrided or nitrocarburized. The residual stress profiles resulting from the thermochemical low-temperature surface treatment were measured. The results indicate high-residual compressive stresses of several GPa’s in the nitrided region, while lower-compressive stresses are produced in the carburized case. Plastic deformation in the steel prior to thermochemical treatment has a hardly measurable influence on the nitrogen-rich zone, while it has a measurable effect on the stresses and depth of the carbon-rich zone.

Influence of Microstructure and Process Conditions on Simultaneous Low-Temperature Surface Hardening and Bulk Precipitation Hardening of Nanoflex®

Precipitation hardening martensitic stainless steel Nanoflex was low-temperature nitrided or nitrocarburized. In these treatments, simultaneous hardening of the bulk, by precipitation hardening, and the surface by dissolving nitrogen/carbon can be obtained because the treatment temperatures and times for these essentially different hardening mechanisms are compatible. The effect of the processing history of the steel on the nitrided/nitrocarburized case was investigated by varying the amounts of austenite and martensite through variation of the degree of plastic deformation by tensile strain, deep cooling, and deliberate manipulation of the austenite stability. The nitrided/nitrocarburized case was investigated with reflected light microscopy, hardness-depth profiling, X-ray diffraction analysis, and glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy. The results demonstrate that a microstructure consisting of martensite results in the deepest nitrided case, while a shallow case develops on a microstructure consisting of austenite. For an initial microstructure consisting of both martensite and austenite a non-uniform case depth is achieved. Simultaneous bulk and surface hardening is only possible for martensite because the precipitation hardening does not occur in an austenite matrix.

Hard Surface Layers by Pack Boriding and Gaseous Thermo-Reactive Deposition and Diffusion Treatments

Thermo-reactive deposition and diffusion (TRD) and boriding are thermochemical processes that result in very high surface hardness by conversion of the surface into carbides/nitrides and borides, respectively. These treatments offer significant advantages in terms of hardness, adhesion, tribo-oxidation, and high wear resistance compared to other conventional surface hardening treatments. In this work, 4 different materials, ARMCO, AISI 409, Uddeholm ARNE® (AISI O1 equivalent), and VANADIS® 6 PM steel representing different classes of alloys, i.e., pure iron, stainless steel, and tool steels, were subjected to TRD (chromizing and titanizing) and boriding treatments. For the steels with low carbon content, chromizing results in surface alloying with chromium, i.e., formation of a (soft) “stainless” surface zone. Steels containing higher levels of carbon form chromium carbide (viz. Cr23C6, Cr7C3) layers with hardnesses up to 1800 HV. Titanizing of ARNE tool steel results in a surface layer consisting of TiC with a hardness of approximately 4000 HV. Duplex treatments, where boriding is combined with subsequent (TRD) titanizing, result in formation of hard TiB2 on top of a thick layer of Fe-based borides. The obtained surface layers were characterized with X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, reflected light microscopy, and micro-indentation.

Influence of Plastic Deformation on Low Temperature Surface Hardening of Austenitic and Precipitation Hardening Stainless Steels by Gaseous Nitriding

Abstract This article addresses an investigation of the influence of plastic deformation on low temperature surface hardening by gaseous nitriding of three commercial austenitic stainless steels: AISI 304, EN 1.4369 and Sandvik Nanoflex® with various degrees of austenite stability. The materials were plastically deformed to different equivalent strains by uniaxial tension. Gaseous nitriding of the strained material was performed in ammonia gas at atmospheric pressure at 703 K (430 °C) and 693 K (420 °C) depending on the material. Microstructural characterization of the as-deformed states and the nitrided case included X-ray diffraction analysis, reflected light microscopy and microhardness. The results demonstrate that a case of expanded austenite develops and that, in particular, strain-induced martensite has a large influence on the nitrided zone.