In the study for this contribution, the AISI H13 hot work steel was pack-boronized between 2 and 6 h of exposure time within the temperature range of 800 – 1000 °C. The boriding agent was composed of a powder mixture containing (in weight percent): 90 % of boron carbide (B4C) and 10 % of sodium tetrafluoroborate (NaBF4). The SEM observations showed a less pronounced jagged interface between the boronized layer and the transient zone. A double phase boride layer (FeB and Fe2B) was identified over the surface of AISI H13 steel with the presence of metallic borides inside this compound layer. The mean diffusion coefficient (MDC) method was applied to analyze the growth of iron borides (FeB and Fe2B) as compact layers over the surfaces of AISI H13 steel. The boron activation energies in the two iron borides were also assessed from the present kinetic approach by assuming the Arrhenius relationships. Afterwards, the kinetic model was checked experimentally by considering two extra boriding conditions (925 °C for 1 and 3 h). Finally, the predicted layer thicknesses are in accordance with experimental measurements.

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In the present work, a diusion model was applied to estimate the boron diusion coecients in the FeB and Fe2B layers during the pack-boriding of AISI D2 steel in the temperature range of 12231323 K during a variable exposure time between 1 and 8 h. The mass balance equations were formulated at each growing interface by considering the eect of boride incubation times. The estimated values of boron activation energies in the FeB and Fe2B layers were compared with the literature data. Validation of the present model was made by comparing the experimental thickness of each boride layer, taken from the literature data, with the predicted values. In addition, a simple equation was suggested to estimate the required time to obtain a single Fe2B layer by diusion annealing.

In this study, two different mathematical models have been proposed for estimating the diffusivities of boron in the Fe2B layer on ASTM A36 steel in the range of 1173 to 1273 K with exposure times of 2 to 8 h. The boride incubation period required for the formation of such a layer was constant regardless of the boriding conditions. In both approaches, the boron diffusivity in the iron phase was considered in an unsaturated matrix. The first approach was derived from the mass balance equation at the (Fe2B/substrate) interface while the second approach employed the integral diffusion model. The calculated values of boron activation energies for ASTM A36 steel were found to be very comparable for the two approaches (161.65 and 160.96 and kJ mol-1). Afterwards, these values of activation energy were confronted with the results from the literature. Experimental validation of these two approaches has been done by comparing the experimental value of Fe2B layer thickness measured at 1123 K for 2.5 h with the simulated values. Finally, the predicted values of Fe2B layer thickness were in line with the experimental measurement.