Ion plasma nitriding of ferritic steel AISI 430 f
In this research work, results of the ion plasma nitriding of the ferritic steel AISI 430F are presented . From the raw material solid bar ф35 were machined specimens with the following dimension 20x20x15. Prepared specimens were plasma nitrided in the installation ION-20. According to research plan the temperatures of 430, 480 and 530 0C, and nitriding times of 3, 6 and 9 hours were used. Nitriding gas for this experiment was ammonia Pulsed direct current was used for the nitriding.
After performing of the ion plasma nitriding process, experimental specimens were subjected to different investigations, mainly microstructural and tribological. Main facilities used for investigations are: device for determination wear resistance “ball-on-disc” (Nanovea), 3D profilometer for surface roughness determination, Optical Microscope Leits and SEM JEOL for microstructural investigations, XRD spectrometer (Rigaku RINT Ultima+) and Vickers microhardness tester for the microhardness measurement. Investigations confirmed that depending of the process parameters different characteristics of nitride layers were obtained. The following characteristic values important for the analysis of the nitride layer was obtained: specific wear rate, volume lost, friction coefficient, width of the wear path, type of wear, type of structure of the nitride layer and maximal hardness of the nitride layer. Performed investigations confirmed that ion plasma nirtriding improve surface properties of the investigate specimens compered with untreated specimen of the raw material. The effect of ion plasma nitriding is directly influenced by the nitriding parameters i.e. temperature and time of the nitriding process.