Abstract
In this experiment, post-nitriding treatment has been performed at $400^{\circ}C$ on AISI 316 stainless steel which is plasma carburized previously at $430^{\circ}C$ for 15 hours. Plasma nitriding was implemented on AISI 316 stainless steel at various gas compositions (25% N2, 50% N2 and 75% N2) for 4 hours. Additionally, during post nitriding Ar gas was used with H2 and N2 to observe the improvement of treatment. After treatment, the behavior of the hybrid layer was investigated by optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and micro-hardness testing. Potentiodynamic polarization test was also used to evaluate the corrosion resistance of the samples. Meanwhile, it was found that the surface hardness increased with increasing the nitrogen gas content. Also small percentage of Ar gas was introduced in the post nitriding process which improved the hardness of the hardened layer but reduces the corrosion resistance compared with the carburized sample. The experiment revealed that AISI 316L stainless steel showed better hardness and excellent corrosion resistance compared with the carburized sample, when 75% N2 gas was used during the post nitriding treatment. Also addition of Ar gas during post nitriding treatment were degraded the corrosion resistance of the sample compared with the carburized sample.
