• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.215-223
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• 1992

This study has been performed to investigate into some effects of temperature, gas mixing ratio and time on the optical microstructure, hardness and wear characteristics of medium carbon alloy steel treated by plasma nitriding. The results obtained from the experiment are summarized as follows: (1) Optical micrographs of AISI 4140 steel plasma-nitrided by the double stage technique have revealed that the nitrided layer is composed of the compound layer and the diffusion layer. The variation in temperature at the first stage gives effects, on the formation of compound layer and the growth rate is shown to be relatively fast at $460^{\circ}C$. (2) The thickness of compound layer has been found to increase with increasing nitrogen percentage in the gas mixture and the holding time. It is therefore recommended that a shorter holding time and a lower nitrogen percentage are more effective to produce a tougher compound layer and a diffusion layer only. (3) X-ray diffraction analysis for AISI 4140 steel has shown that the compound layer consist of ${\gamma}^{\prime}-Fe_4N$ and ${\alpha}-Fe$ and that tough compound layer diffustion layer only can be obtained by the double stage plasmanitriding process. (4) There is also a tendency that the total hardened layer depth increases with increasing temperature, time and nitrogen percentage in the first stage during the double stage plasma nitriding. (5) The wear resistance of plasma nitrided specimens has been found thobe considerably increased compared to the untreated specimens and the amount of increment has appeared to increase further with increasing nitriding temperature, holding time and notrogen percentage of gas mixture in the first stage treatment.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.8-14
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• 2024

Austenitic stainless steel 316L has been used a lot of applications because of its high corrosion resistance and formability. In addition, copper brazing is employed to create complex shape of 316L stainless steel for various engineering parts. In such system, copper-based filler metals make galvanic cell at metal/filler metal interface, and it accelerates corrosion of stainless steel. Furthermore, Cu-rich region formed by diffused copper in austenitic stainless steel can promote a pitting corrosion. In this study, we used an ammonia (NH₃) gas to nitride the 316L stainless steel for improving the corrosion resistance. The thickness of the nitride (nitrogen high) layer increased with the treatment temperature, and the surface hardness also increased. The potentiodynamic polarization test showed the improvement of corrosion resistance of 316L stainless steel by enhancing the passivation on nitride layer. However, in case of high temperature nitriding, a chromium nitride was formed and its fraction increased, so that the corrosion resistance was decreased compared to the intact 316L stainless steel.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.207-214
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• 2024

This study examines the effects of post-oxidation treatment on the microstructure and corrosion resistance of GC250 cast iron. The nitriding process was conducted at 570℃ for 180 minutes with a fixed nitriding potential (Kn) of 1.5, followed by post-oxidation at 450℃, 500℃, and 550℃ for 120 minutes. The post-oxidized specimens showed increased surface hardness and case depth compared to the nitrided specimens, with a maximum surface hardness of approximately 890 HV0.1. The oxidation process increased the thickness of the nitrided layer by more than 3 ㎛, with the oxide layer thickness reaching up to 2.5㎛ as the oxidation temperature increased. XRD analysis identified the presence of ε-phase, γ'-phase, and Fe₃O⁴ phase on the surface. Polarization tests revealed that the specimen treated at the highest oxidation temperature had a corrosion current density of 20.26 ㎂/cm² and a corrosion potential of -0.22V, indicating enhanced corrosion resistance compared to the nitrided specimen. This improvement is attributed to the formation and increased thickness of the oxide layer, which enhances corrosion resistance. In conclusion, the oxide layer formed through post-oxidation treatment significantly improves the corrosion resistance of GC250 cast iron, with the effect becoming more pronounced at higher oxidation temperatures.

• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.254-257
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• 2007

TiN coating on tool steel has been widely used for the improvement of durability of tools. In this work, radical nitriding(RN) is carried out on SKD61 at $450^{\circ}C$ for 5 hours in the ammonia gas pressure $2.7{\times}10^3\;Pa$. The TiN coating is carried out by arc ion plating(AIP) with the process parameters: arc power 150 A, bias voltage -50V, coating time 40 minutes and nitrogen gas pressure $4{\times}10^3\;Pa$. Hardness, elastic modulus, friction coefficient and adhesion of TiN coating on substrates of both TiN/SKD61 and TiN/RN SKD61 coatings are investigated comparatively. The primary crystalline faces of TiN surface are(200) and(111) for TiN/SKD61 and TiN/RN SKD61 respectively. In addition to the primary phase, Fe phase exists in TiN/SKD61 coating, but not in TIN/RN SKD61. The hardness of TiN/RN SKD61 is about 700 Hv, 250 Hv(56%) higher than that of TiN/SKD61 at the near interface of TiN and substrates. At the TiN surface, hardness of TiN/RN SKD61 is 2,149 Hv, 71 Hv(3%) higher than that of TiN/SKD61. The elastic modulus of TiN coating is improved to 26.7 GPa(6%) by radical nitriding. The adhesion is improved by the RN coating showing no spalling. buckling and chipping on the scratch test track which are shown on the non-RN TiN/SKD61.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2012.10a
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• pp.589-590
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• 2012

• Proceedings of the Korean Powder Metallurgy Institute Conference
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• 2006.04a
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• pp.39-40
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• 2006

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 1996.02a
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• pp.55-55
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• 1996

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2001.06a
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• pp.55-55
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• 2001

• Proceedings of the Korean Powder Metallurgy Institute Conference
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• 2006.09b
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• pp.863-863
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• 2006

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.174-179
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• 2003

Thin copper films were grown by electrodeposition on copper seed layers which were grown by sputtering of an ultra-pure copper target on tantalum nitride-coated silicon wafers and subsequently, cleaned in ECR plasma. The copper films were then subjected to ⅰ) vacuum annealing, ⅱ) rapid thermal annealing (RTA) and ⅲ) rapid thermal nitriding (RTN) at various temperatures over different periods of time. XRD, SEM, AFM and resistivity measurements were done to ascertain the optimum heat treatment condition for obtaining film with minimum resistivity, predominantly (111)-oriented and smoother surface morphology. The as-deposited film has a resistivity of ∼6.3 $\mu$$\Omega$-cm and a relatively small intensity ratio of (111) and (200) peaks. With heat treatment, the resistivity decreases and the (111) peak becomes dominant, along with improved smoothness of the copper film. The optimum condition (with a resistivity of 1.98 $\mu$$\Omega$-cm) is suggested as the rapid thermal nitriding at 400oC for 120 sec.