• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.56-60
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• 2011

A low temperature plasma carburizing process was performed to AISI 304L austenitic stainless steel to achieve the enhancement of surface hardness without a compromise in their corrosion resistance. Attempts were made to investigate the influence of the processing temperatures on the surface-hardened layer during low temperature plasma carburizng in order to obtain the optimum processing conditions. The expanded austenite (${\gamma}C$) was formed on all the treated surfaces. Precipitates of chromium carbides were detected in the hardened layer (C-enriched layer) only for the specimen treated at $500^{\circ}C$. The hardened layer thickness of ${\gamma}C$ increased up to about $35\;{\mu}m$, with increasing treatment temperature. The surface hardness reached about 1000 $HK_{0.05}$, which is about 4 times higher than that of the untreated sample (250 $HK_{0.05}$). Minor loss in corrosion resistance was observed for the specimens treated at temperatures of $310^{\circ}C-450^{\circ}C$ compared with untreated austenitic stainless steel. Particularly, the precipitation of chromium carbides at $500^{\circ}C$ led to a significant decrease in the corrosion resistance.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.257-264
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• 2023

Ti-6Al-4V alloys are mainly used as dental materials due to their excellent biocompatibility, corrosion resistance, and chemical stability. However, they have a low bioactivity with bioinertness in the body. Therefore, they could not directly bond with human bone. To improve their applications, their bone bonding ability and bone formation capacity should be improved. Thus, the objective of this study was to improve the bioinert surface of titanium alloy substrate to show bioactive characteristics by performing surface modification using wollastonite powder. Commercial bioactive wollastonite powder was successfully deposited onto Ti-6Al-4V alloy using a room temperature spray process. It was found that wollastonite-coated layer showed homogeneous microstructure and uniform thickness. Corrosion resistance of Ti-6Al-4V alloy was also improved by plasma electrolytic oxidation treatment. Its wettability and bioactivity were also greatly increased by wollastonite coating. Results of this study indicate that both plasma electrolytic oxidation treatment and wollastonite coating by room temperature spray process could be used to improve surface bioactivity of Ti-6Al-4V alloy substrate.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.148-153
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• 2004

Magnesium thin flims were prepared on cold-rolled steel substrates by RF magnetron sputtering technique. The influence of argon gas pressure and substrate bias voltage on their crystal orientation and morphology of the coated films were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction, respectively. And the effect of crystal orientation and morphology of magnesium films on corrosion behaviors was estimated by measuring anodic polarization curves in deaerated 3%NaCl solution. From the experimental results, all the sputtered magnesium films showed obviously good corrosion resistance to compare with 99.99% magnesium target of the sputter-evaporation metal. Finally it was shown that the Corrosion-resistance of magnesium films can be improved greatly by controlling the crystal orientation and morphology with effective use of the plasma sputtering technique.

• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.194-202
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• 2019

A systematic investigation was made on the influence of processing parameters such as gas composition and treatment temperature on the surface characteristics of hardened layers of low temperature plasma nitrided 316L Austenitic Stainless Steel. Various nitriding processes were conducted by changing temperature ($370^{\circ}C$ to $430^{\circ}C$) and changing $N_2$ percentage (10% to 25%) for 15 hours in the glow discharge environment of a gas mixture of $N_2$ and $H_2$ in a plasma nitriding system. In this process a constant pressure of 4 Torr was maintained. Increasing nitriding temperature from $370^{\circ}C$ to $430^{\circ}C$, increases the thickness of S phase layer and the surface hardness, and also makes an improvement in corrosion resistance, irrespective of nitrogen percent. On the other hand, increasing nitrogen percent from 10% to 25% at $430^{\circ}C$ decreases corrosion resistance although it increases the surface hardness and the thickness of S phase layer. Therefore, optimized condition was selected as nitriding temperature of $430^{\circ}C$ with 10% nitrogen, as at this condition, the treated sample showed better corrosion resistance. Moreover to further increase the thickness of S phase layer and surface hardness without compromising the corrosion behavior, further research was conducted by fixing the $N_2$ content at 10% with introducing various amount of $CH_4$ content from 0% to 5% in the nitriding atmosphere. The best treatment condition was determined as 10% $N_2$ and 5% $CH_4$ content at $430^{\circ}C$, where the thickness of S phase layer of about $17{\mu}m$ and a surface hardness of $980HV_{0.1}$ were obtained (before treatment $250HV_{0.1}$ hardness). This specimen also showed much higher pitting potential, i.e. better corrosion resistance, than specimens treated at different process conditions and the untreated one.

• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.144-154
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• 1997

Effects of plasma nitriding on the surface charcteristice of stainless steel(SS) were investjgated by utilizing wear tester, micro-hardness tester and potentiostat. The surface and corrosion morphology of plasma nitrided SS were analyzed by utilizing optical microscopy, SEM, XRD and WDX. It was found that plasma nitriding at $550^{\circ}C$, compared with $380^{\circ}C$, prodiced a good wear resistance and hardness as nitriding time increased, whereas Mo addition showd that were resistance and hardness decreased. Intergranular corrosion(IGC) resistance improved significantly in the case of plasma nirtrided SS containing 4.05wt% Mo at $380^{\circ}C$ because that nitrogen and Mo ast syner gidically to form a protective layer on surface which is responsible for the aggresive SCN-ion. Plasma nitrided at $550^{\circ}C$ decreased IGC as Mo content increased. Pitting improved in the plasma nitirided SS at Mo content incresased owing to retard a nucleation and growth of chromium carbide or nitirde in grain boundary.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.77-83
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• 2006

The plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) process is a relatively new surface treatment technique that produces a chemically stable and environment-friendly electrolytic coating that can be applied to all types of magnesium alloys. In this study, the characteristics of oxide film were examined after coating the extruded AZ31 alloy through the PEO process. Hard ceramic coatings were obtained on the AZ31 alloy by changing the coating time from 10min to 60min. The morphologies of the surface and the cross-section of the PEO coatings were examined by scanning electron microscopy and optical microscopy, and the thickness of the coating was measured. The X-ray diffraction pattern of the coating shows that the coated layer consists mainly of the MgO and $Mg_2SiO_4$ phases after the oxidation reaction. The hardness of the coated AZ31 alloy increased with increasing coating time. In addition, the corrosion rates of the coated and uncoated AZ31 alloys were examined by salt spray tests according to ASTM B 117 and the results show that the corrosion resistance of the coated AZ31 alloy was superior to that of the un-coated AZ31 alloy.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.12 no.10
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• pp.776-783
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• 2002

Austenitic stainless steel (STS304) has been carburized using glow discharge plasma and its microstructure, wear resistance and corrosion property have been investigated. A repeat boost-diffuse carburizing was used as an effective plasma carburizing method. The effective case depth of the plasma carburized specimens was increased with the carbon concentration at the surface area. The specimens prepared by 3 hours plasma carburizing under $600^{\circ}C$ did not have the standard hardness for the effective case depth, but the specimen prepared by 11 hours plasma carburizing at $500^{\circ}C$ had nearly the same hardness with the specimen plasma carburized for 3 hours at $800^{\circ}C$. The wear resistance increased with temperature but the corrosion properties of the specimens prepared over $600^{\circ}C$ decreased rapidly due to the grain boundary sensitization. However, the specimen plasma carburized for 11 hours at $500^{\circ}C$ had nearly the same wear resistance with the specimen plasma carburized for 3 hours at $800^{\circ}C$ without deterioration of corrosion property. This could be resulted from the fact that the microstructure of the specimen plasma carburized for 11 hours at $500^{\circ}C$ was composed of martensite and austenite, because a partial martensite transformation was occurred only in the specimen plasma carburized for 11 hours at 50$0^{\circ}C$.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.6 no.6
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• pp.286-290
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• 2007

Biocompatible Hydroxy apatite (HAp) coatings on metallic substrate by plasma spray techniques have been developed. Long-term credibility of plasma spray HAp coatings has been evaluated in physiological saline by electrochemical measurements. It was found that the corrosion resisitance of SUS316L based HAp/Ti conbined coatings was excellent even after more than 10 weeks long-term immersion. It was shown that postal heat treatment improved both the crystallinity and corrosion resistance of HAp. By lowering cooling rate during heat treatment process, less cracks produced in HAp coating layer, which lead to higher credibility of HAp during immersion in physiological saline. The ICP results showed that the dissolution level of substrate metallic ions was low and HAp coatings produced in this research can be acceptable as biocompatible materials. Also, the concentration of dissolved ions from HAp coatings with postal heat treatment was lower compared to those from samples without postal heat treatment. The adherence of HAp coatings with Ti substrate and other mechanical properties were also assessed by three-point bending test. The poor adhesion of HAp coating to titanium substrate can be improved by introducing a plasma spray titanium intermediate layer.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.120-124
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• 2016

The effect of alloying element Ca (0, 1, and 2 wt%) on corrosion resistance and bioactivity of the as-received and anodized surface of rolled plate AM60 alloys was investigated. A plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) was carried out to form anodic oxide film in $0.5mol\;dm^{-3}\;Na_3PO_4$ solution. The corrosion behavior was studied by polarization measurements while the in vitro bioactivity was tested by soaking the specimens in Simulated Body Fluid (1.5xSBF). Optical micrograph and elemental analysis of the substrate surfaces indicated that the number of intermetallic particles increased with Ca content in the alloys owing to the formation of a new phase $Al_2Ca$. The corrosion resistance of AM60 specimens improved only slightly by alloying with 2 wt% Ca which was attributed to the reticular distribution of $Al_2Ca$ phase existed in the alloy that might became barrier for corrosion propagation across grain boundaries. Corrosion resistance of the three alloys was significantly improved by coating the substrates with anodic oxide film formed by PEO. The film mainly composed of magnesium phosphate with thickness in the range $30-40{\mu}m$. The heat resistant phase of $Al_2Ca$ was believed to retard the plasma discharge during anodization and, hence, decreased the film thickness of Ca-containing alloys. The highest apatite forming ability in 1.5xSBF was observed for AM60-1Ca specimens (both substrate and anodized) that exhibited more degradation than the other two alloys as indicated by surface observation. The increase of surface roughness and the degree of supersaturation of 1.5xSBF due to dissolution of Mg ions from the substrate surface or the release of film compounds from the anodized surface are important factors to enhance deposition of Ca-P compound on the specimen surfaces.

• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.435-444
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• 2001

WC-( $Ti_{1-x}$ A $l_{x}$) N coatings of constant changing Al concentration were deposited on S45C substrates by high-ionization sputtered PVD method. The Al concentration could be controlled by using evaporation source for Al and fixing the evaporation rate of the metals (i.e, WC- $Ti_{0.86}$A $l_{0.14}$N, WC- $Ti_{0.72}$A $l_{0.28}$N, and WC- $Ti_{0.58}$A $l_{0.42}$N). The corrosion behavior of WC-( $Ti_{1-x}$ A $l_{x}$)N coatings in a deaerated 3.5% NaCl solution was investigated by electrochemical corrosion tests and surface analyses. The measured galvanic corrosion currents between coating and substrate indicated that WC- $Ti_{0.72}$A $l_{0.28}$N coating showed the best resistance of the coating tested. The results of potentiodynamic polarization tests showed that the WC- $Ti_{0.72}$A $l_{0.28}$N coating deposited with 32W/c $m^2$ of Al target revealed higher corrosion resistance. This indicated that the WC- $Ti_{0.72}$A $l_{0.28}$N coating is effective in improving corrosion resistance. In EIS, the WC- $Ti_{0.72}$A $l_{0.28}$N coating showed one time constant loop and increased a polarization resistance of coating ( $R_{coat}$) relative to other samples. Compositional variations of WC-( $Ti_{1-x}$ A $l_{x}$)N coatings were analyzed by EDS and XRD analysis was performed to evaluate the crystal structure and compounds formation behavior. Surface morphologies of the films were observed using SEM and AFM. Scratch test was performed to measure film adhesion strength.strength. adhesion strength.strength.