Dry Sliding Wear Behavior of Austenitic Stainless Steel Material by Gas Nitriding Process

Abstract

In industries, components must operate under extreme conditions such as high load, speed, temperature and chemical environment. Materials are selected according to commercial availability, cost and their properties such as strength, hardness, etc. AISI 904L is a high-alloy stainless steel with low carbon content, poor surface hardness and wear characteristics. Many engineering failures are caused by fatigue, corrosion, and poor wear resistance, begins at the surface level. This causes cracks in the surface, reducing the material’s life. The surfaces of the materials were subjected to severe thermal, chemical, and shock loads. The selected AISI 904L materials for this work were subjected to gas nitriding process and processed with 3 different time parameters such as 12 hours, 18 hours and 24 hours respectively and named as GN1, GN2 and GN3. The treatments were done at a constant temperature of 650°C. Gas nitriding, in comparison to other nitriding processes such as plasma and liquid nitriding, provides good dimensional stability, reduced deformation, and uniform case depth regardless of the size and shape of the specimen. To analyze the wear properties, a pin on a disc machine is used. Finally, metallographic studies were performed by scanning electron microscopy.

Assessment of Wear Properties on Treated AISI 410 Martensitic Stainless Steel by Annealing Process

“…All the samples were undergone through a wear test with pin on disc machine and the wear loss was calculated. The pin on disc test is a widely used tribological test that involves placing a small cylindrical sample known as the "pin" against a flat rotating disc under 10N load with a speed of 750 rpm [31][32][33][34][35]. The test helps to evaluate the friction and wear behavior of materials in various industrial applications, providing valuable information on their wear resistance, coefficient of friction and surface damage under different conditions.…”

“…It is important to note that annealing can also reduce the hardness and strength of the stainless steel. As a result, the process must be closely monitored to ensure that the necessary qualities are obtained without affecting the overall performance of the stainless steel [32][33][34][35].…”

Analysis of Wear Behaviour on AISI 431 Martensitic Stainless Steel by Vacuum Annealing Process

“…An untreated sample was also included in this experiment for comparison purpose. By comparing the results of the treated samples with the untreated sample, the effects of the heat treatment processes on wear behavior and characteristics could be assessed [31][32][33][34].…”

Effects of Salt Bath Nitriding Process on AISI 309 Stainless Steel

“…The procedure of salt bath nitriding involves by immersing the work piece in a liquid salt solution comprised of sodium and potassium nitrate. The samples were heated to 550°C throughout the treatment process in a vacuum environment [30][31][32][33][34]. The samples were ultrasonically polished prior to experimentation and the surface hardness was measured.…”