Wear assessment of plasma nitrided AISI Hll steel

摘要

Plasma nitriding is one of the effective methods for improvement of the hardness, wear and corrosion resistance of steels. In this research AISI HI 1 hot working tool steel was plasma nitrided in various gas mixtures for different times and temperatures. The morphology, size and composition of nitride nanopar-ticles formed on the surface of the specimens were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction (XRD). The wear behavior of plasma nitrided samples was studied by means of unlubricated pin-on-disc method under constant load of 80 N, sliding speed of 1 m/s, sliding distance of 2000 m at room temperature. The results showed plasma nitriding process improved the wear behavior of Hll steel. The increase in time and temperature of plasma nitriding decreased the hardness and increased the wear weigh loss of the specimens.