Abstract
The low carbon Austenitic steel possesses excellent corrosion resistance but poor tribological properties. This work has been attempted to improve the surface hardness and wear resistance of austenitic stainless steel by alloying its surface with nano tungsten carbide (WC) using Nd: YAG laser. Austenitic 316L Stainless Steel (SS) was conceived as a substrate material. The substrate materials are prepared in the form of discs and pins. These discs and pins are coated with the prepared nano WC powder using DC Magnetron Sputtering process. Nano (WC) with an average particle size of 48 nm was prepared by thermo chemical method using a planetary ball mill. The surface alloying of the nano WC coated 316L SS substrate was performed using Nd: YAG laser processing setup. In this attempt, the optimal process parameter was also determined by varying the laser process parameters such as beam radius and defocal length. The depth of the modified layer was observed as 190 µm in one of the samples. The modified layers are characterized by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis (EDAX) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) techniques. The microhardness for all the samples were measured using Vickers’s microhardness test and the maximum value of 762HV was observed. Also, the strength of the modified layer was calculated using theory of contact mechanics. The maximum yield strength and shear strength of the samples were found to be 1.37 GPa and 0.81Gpa respectively. The tribological behavior such as wear and friction components for all the samples are studied using pin on disc setup and the results were compared with self-mating of 316L SS substrate. The coefficient of friction in nano alloyed sample was observed to be low when compared to the untreated 316L SS.
Graphical abstract
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Purushothaman, D.B., Buvanashekaran, G., Balasubramanian, K.R.: Experimental studies on the microstructure and hardness of laser transformation hardening of low alloy steel. Trans. Can. Soc. Mech. Eng. 36, 241–258 (2012)
Lo, K.H., Cheng, F.T., Kwok, C.T., Man, H.C.: Improvement of cavitation erosion resistance of AISI 316 stainless steel by laser surface alloying using fine WC powder. Surface and Coatings Tech. 165, 258–267 (2003)
Tassin, C., Laroudie, F., Pons, M., Lelait, L.: Carbide-reinforced coating on AISI 316L stainless steel by laser surface alloying. Surface and Coatings Tech. 76–77, 450–455 (1995)
Lu, J.Z., Cao, J., Lu, H.F., Zhang, L.Y., Luo, K.Y.: Wear properties and microstructural analyses of Fe-based coatings with various WC contents on H13 die steel by laser cladding. Surface and Coatings Tech. 369, 228–237 (2019)
Huang Chong Cheng, W.T. Tsai, Lee J.T.: Surface modification of carbon steel with laser treated nitrogen-containing stainless steel layers. Surface and Coatings Tech. 79,67–70 (1996)
Kwok C.T., Cheng F.T., Man H.C.: Laser surface modification of UNS 31603 Stainless Steel. Part I: microstructure and corrosion characteristics. Mat. Sci. and Engg.: A. 290, 55-73 (2000)
Kwok C.T., Cheng F.T, Man H.C.: Laser surface modification of UNS 31603 Stainless Steel. Part II: microstructure and corrosion characteristics, Mat. Sci. and Engg.: A. 290, 74–88 (2000)
Chiu K.Y., Cheng F.T, Man H.C.: Cavitation erosion resistance of 316L Stainless Steel Laser surface modified with NiTi, Mat. Sci. and Engg.: A. 392, 348–358 (2005)
Sastikumar D., Viswanathan A., Jamal Mohammed, Jaffar M., Nath A.K.: Laser Surface Modification of AISI 316L with SiC-Fe-Ni-Cr, Lasers in Engg. 16, 447 (2007)
John, C.: Betts, The direct laser deposition of AISI316 stainless steel and Cr3C2 powder. J. Mat. Processing Tech. 209, 5229–5238 (2009)
Lekala, M.B., Van der Merwe, J.W., Pityana, S.L.: Laser Surface Modification of 316L Stainless Steel with Ru and Ni mixtures. Int. J. of Corrosion. (2012)
Majumdar, J.D.: Mechanical and electro-chemical properties of Laser Surface Alloyed AISI 304 Stainless Steel with WC+Ni+NiCr. Phys. Procedia 41, 335–345 (2013)
Vamsi Krishna Balla, Mitun Das, Sreyashree Bose, Janaki Ram G.D., Indranil M.: Laser surface modification of 316L stainless steel with bioactive hydroxyapatite, Mat. Sci. and Engg.: C. 33, 4594–4598 (2013)
Kulka, M., Mikolajczak, D., Makuch, N., Dziarski, P., Miklaszewski, A.: Wear resistance improvement of austenitic 316L steel by laser alloying with boron. Surface and Coatings Tech. 291, 292–313 (2016)
Johnson, K.L.: Contact Mechanics. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1985)
Saravanan, M., Devaraju, A., Venkateshwaran, N., Krishnakumari, A.: Tribological behavior of thin nano tungsten carbide film deposited on 316L stainless steel surface. Surf. Rev. Lett. 25, 01–10 (2018)
Vilhena, L.M., Fernandes, C.M., Soares, E., Sacramento, J., Senos, A.M.R., Ramalho, A.: Abrasive wear resistance of WC-Co and WC-AISI 304 composites by ball-cratering method. Wear 346–347, 99–107 (2016)
Zhou, S., Dai, X., Zheng, H.: Microstructure and wear resistance of Fe-based WC coating by multi-track overlapping laser induction hybrid rapid cladding. Opt. Laser Technol. 44, 190–197 (2012)
Acknowledgement
The authors are grateful to the laser processing centre, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) Trichy, India for their support extended for laser alloying process. I sincerely thank Dr. S. Kamaraj, Professor, Department of Materials and Metallurgy, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras and Dr. A. Rajadurai, Professor, Department of Production Technology, Madras Institute of Technology for their valuable suggestions in carrying out this work.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
A, K., M, S. & J, S. Application of Nd: YAG Laser in Nano WC Surface Alloying with Low Carbon Austenitic Steel in Predicting the Microstructure and Hardness. Lasers Manuf. Mater. Process. 8, 201–215 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40516-021-00145-3
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40516-021-00145-3