Abstract
In this experiment, nitriding treatment has been performed at $400^{\circ}C$ with various $N_2$ content and with changing processing time on AISI 420 martensitic stainless steel to investigate the expanded martensite layer (${\alpha}^{\prime}_N$ layer) formation behavior. Nitriding was implemented with changing $N_2$ content from 10% to 25% for 15 hrs and processing time was changed from 4hr to 15hr at 25% $N_2$ content. After treatment, the behavior of the ${\alpha}^{\prime}_N$ 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. It was found that the surface hardness and ${\alpha}^{\prime}_N$ layer thickness increases with increasing $N_2$ percentage and processing time. Although their corrosion behaviors are worse than the bare sample.
