Analysis of the Boronizing Process of High-vanadium Alloy Steel

Abstract

The high-vanadium alloy steel substrate surface was carried out by solid powder boronizing. The results showed that a certain thickness and compact structure of the boronizing layers could be obtained after boronizing. The thickness of the boronizing layer was about –53 μm; the thickness of the transition zone was about –36 μm, and the boronizing layer was combined with the substrate firmly. The boronizing layers consist of FeB and embed into the substrate like a spider. The alloying elements have little effect on the formation of sawtooth morphology in the boride layers. The thickness of the boronizing layers increased with the boronizing time and temperature increase, and the thickness of the boronizing layer has a parabola relationship with the processing time.

The effect of different powder mixtures used in the boriding process on the surface properties of AISI 304 stainless steel material

“…The basic principle of protecting steels by forming boride and intermetallic coatings is the strong diffusion bonding of these coating materials to crystal structures and surfaces [14]. By combining it with a substrate material, boron forms a single (Fe 2 B) or double (FeB+Fe 2 B) phase iron boride layer on the surface [15][16][17][18]. Boron atoms can diffuse into iron alloys due to their relatively small size and mobile nature [7].…”

“…Boridation of ferrous materials results in the formation of single (Fe 2 B) or double (FeB/Fe 2 B) layers with a well-defined composition [15,17,18]. The boriding process is known for relatively rapid diffusion depending on the time and temperature and significantly higher mechanical properties than other thermochemical processes, and therefore it has technological importance [16,[19][20][21][22]. The thickness of the boriding layer formed after the boriding process depends on the temperature, processing time, type of substrate material and boron potential conditions surrounding the material surface [23,24].…”