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Microstructure and Properties of SAE 2205 Stainless Steel After Salt Bath Nitrocarburizing at 450 °C

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Abstract

Nitrocarburizing of the type SAE 2205 duplex stainless steel was conducted at 450 °C, using a type of salt bath chemical surface treatment, and the microstructure and properties of the nitrided surface were systematically researched. Experimental results revealed that a modified layer transformed on the surface of samples with the thickness ranging from 3 to 28 μm changed with the treatment time. After 2205 duplex stainless steel was subjected to salt bath nitriding at 450 °C for time less than 8 h, the preexisting ferrite zone in the surface transformed into austenite by active nitrogen diffusion. The main phase of the nitrided layer was the expanded austenite. When the treatment time was extended to 16 h, the preexisting ferrite zone in the expanded austenite was decomposed and transformed partially into ε-nitride precipitate. When the treatment time extended to 40 h, the preexisting ferrite zone in the expanded austenite was transformed into ε-nitride and CrN precipitate. Further, a large amount of nitride precipitated from preexisting austenite zone. The nitrided layer depth thickness changed intensively with the increasing nitriding time. The growth of the nitride layer takes place mainly by nitrogen diffusion according to the expected parabolic rate law. The salt bath nitriding can effectively improve the surface hardness. The maximum values measured from the treated surface are observed to be approximately 1400 HV0.1 after 8 h, which is about 3.5 times as hard as the untreated material (396 HV0.1). Low-temperature nitriding can improve the erosion/corrosion resistance. After nitriding for 4 h, the sample has the best corrosion resistance.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are very grateful to the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 50901047) for financial support of the research and work involved in this study. Further acknowledgements should go to the author (J.W) along with Prof. Baoluo Shen of Sichuan University and Prof. Defu Luo of XiHua University, P.R.China, for their valuable discussions during the course of the research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Manufacturing Science and Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, People’s Republic of China

    Jing Yan, Jun Wang, Runbo Huang, Xiong Ji & Hongyuan Fan

  2. Southwest Oil and Gasfield Company Research Institute of Natural Gas, Chengdu, 610023, People’s Republic of China

    Jing Yan & Tan Gu

  3. State Key Lab of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu, 610500, People’s Republic of China

    Yuanhua Lin & Dezhi Zeng

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  1. Jing Yan
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  2. Jun Wang
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Correspondence to Jun Wang.

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Yan, J., Wang, J., Lin, Y. et al. Microstructure and Properties of SAE 2205 Stainless Steel After Salt Bath Nitrocarburizing at 450 °C. J. of Materi Eng and Perform 23, 1157–1164 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-014-0922-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-014-0922-y

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