Acceleration of Plasma Nitriding at 550 °C with Rare Earth on the Surface of 38CrMoAl Steel
Dongjing Liu, Yuan You, Mufu Yan, Hongtao Chen, Rui Li, Lin Hong, Tingjie Han
Abstract
In order to explore the effect of the addition of rare earth (RE) to a steel microstructure and the consequent performance of a nitrided layer, plasma nitriding was carried out on 38CrMoAl steel in an atmosphere of NH3 at 550 °C for 4, 8, and 12 h. The modified layers were characterized using an optical microscope (OM), a microhardness tester, X-ray diffraction (XRD), a scanning electron microscope (SEM), a transmission electron microscope (TEM), and an electrochemical workstation. After 12 h of nitriding without RE, the modified layer thickness was 355.90 μm, the weight gain was 3.75 mg/cm2, and the surface hardness was 882.5 HV0.05. After 12 h of RE nitriding, the thickness of the modified layer was 390.8 μm, the weight gain was 3.87 mg/cm2, and the surface hardness was 1027 HV0.05. Compared with nitriding without RE, the ε-Fe2-3N diffraction peak was enhanced in the RE nitriding layer. After 12 h of RE nitriding, La, LaFeO3, and a trace amount of Fe2O3 appeared. The corrosion rate of the modified layer was at its lowest (15.089 × 10−2 mm/a), as was the current density (1.282 × 10−5 A/cm2); therefore, the corrosion resistance improved.