Modification of Low-Alloy Steel Surface by Plasma Electrolytic Nitriding

The structure of the low-alloy steel after plasma electrolytic nitriding (PEN) in electrolyte containing ammonium nitrate was investigated. The cross-sectional microstructure, composition, and phase constituents of modified layer under different processing conditions were characterized. It is shown that anode PEN provides the saturation of steel with nitrogen and formation of α-Fe₂O₃, FeO, and Fe₃O₄ oxides, Fe_2-3N nitride, and martensite. The aqueous solution that contained 15 wt.% NH₄Cl and 5 wt.% NH₄NO₃ allows one to obtain the hardened layer with a thickness of 80 μm and a microhardness up to 740 HV during 5 min at 850 °C. Surface roughness decreases from 1.5 to 0.8 μm after 5-min PEN at 650 °C. The proposed electrolyte and processing mode (750 °C, 10 min) enable to obtain the decrease in the weight loss after lubricate wear testing by a factor of 2.7. The base-nitrate electrolyte conditioned a decrease in the corrosion current density by a factor of 9 due to passivating effect of the oxide and nitride of iron.