• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.268-275
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• 2006

In this study, effect of sputtering on the plasma-nitriding substrate and before PVD coating on the microstucture, microhardness, surface roughness and the adhesion strength of CrZrN thin films were investigated. Experimental results showed that this sputtering process not only removed surface compound layer which formed during a plasma nitriding process but also induced an alteration of the surface of plasma nitrided substrate in terms of microhardness distribution, surface roughness. This in turn affected the adhesion strength of PVD coatings. After sputtering, microhardness distribution showed general decrease and the surface roughness became increased slightly. The critical shear stress measured from the scratch test on the CrZrN coatings showed an approximately 1.4 times increase in the adhesion strength through the sputtering prior to the coating and this could be attributed to a complete removal of compound layer from the plasma nitrided surface and to an increase in the surface roughness after sputtering.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.238-244
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• 2017

Plasma ion nitriding has been widely used in various industries to improve the mechanical properties of materials, especially stainless steels by increasing the surface hardness. It has the particular advantages of less distortion compared to that in the case of hardening of steel, gas nitriding, and carburizing; in addition, it allows treatment at low-temperatures, and results in a high surface hardness and improved corrosion resistance. Many researchers have demonstrated that the plasma ion nitriding process should be carried out at temperatures of below $450^{\circ}C$ to improve corrosion resistance via the formation of the expanded austenite phase(S-phase). Most experimentals studied to date have been carried out in chloride solutions like HCl or NaCl. However, the electrochemical characteristics for the chloride solutions and natural seawater differ. Hence, in this work, plasma ion nitriding of 304 stainless steels was performed at various temperatures, and the electrochemical characteristics corresponding to the different process temperatures were analyzed for the samples in natural seawater. Finally the optimum plasma ion nitriding temperature that resulted in the highest corrosion resistance was determined.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.60-70
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• 1996

Scuffing and severe wear of the highly stressed sliding components have been very critical problems in the development of a rotary compressor. In order to improve durability and reliability of the compressor, plasma ion-nitriding was applied on the shaft and the vane surface. The effects of different treatment conditions on the mechanical and tribological properties of the ion-nitrided surfaces were investigated. Ion-nitrided surfaces showed better tribological performances than untreated surfaces. The best wear performance was observed when the shaft was nitrided in the condition of 450$\circ$C, 7 hours, $N_2:H_2=1:4$ gas mixture by forming a ductile nitrided layer which has $\gamma'$ phase microstructure. As nitrogen gas pressure increased, $\varepsilon$ phase layer was formed. This hard phase layer was observed to be more beneficial for the vane in reducing friction and wear.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.88-97
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• 1998

The surface characteristics of 13Cr stainless steel systems by plasma nitriding were investigated. The plasma nitriding for the 13Cr steels, in which the nitriding forming elements such as Ti, V, W, Nb, Al, Zr and Si were added about 2~3wt.%, respectively, was performed. In all nitrided specimens, .epsilon.-F $e_{2-3}$N, UPSILON.'-F $e_{4}$N and CrN were detected as the nitrides with the a-Fe in the nitrided layer. VN and .betha.- $W_{2}$N were also detected in 13Cr-3V and 13Cr-3W alloys. The growth of the nitrided layer was controlled by the diffusion process. The thickness of the nitrided layer was similar in the 13Cr-2Nb and 3Zr specimens to that of 13Cr(BM) specimen, while the others exhibited the thinner layer. The activation energy for the growth of the nitrided layer in the temperature range of 773-873K was about 130kJ/mol in 13Cr(BM), 13Cr-2Ti, 3W, 3Al, 3Zr and 3Si alloys. The hardness of the nitrided specimens was significantly increased above Hv1000, comparing to the non-nitrided specimen. The specimens with the nitrided forming elements revealed much higher hardness values and, especially, 13Cr-3Al, 3V and 3Si specimens were significantly hardened up to Hv1300.v1300.0.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.8-16
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• 2001

The effects of gas composition, pressure, temperature and time on the case thickness, hardness and nitride formation in the surface of tool steels(STD11 and STD61) have been studied by micro-pulse plasma nitriding. External compound layer and internal diffusion layer and the diffusion layer were observed in the nitrided case of tool steels. The relative amounts and kind of phases formed in the nitrided case changed with the change of nitriding conditions. Generally, only nitride phases such as ${\gamma}(Fe_4N)$, ${\varepsilon}(Fe_{2-3}N)$, or $Cr_{1.75}V_{0.25}N_2$ phases were detected in the compound layer, while nitride and carbide phases such as ${\varepsilon}-nitride(Fe_{2-3}N)$, $(Cr,Fe)_{\gamma}C_3$ or $Fe_3C$ were detected in the diffusion layer by XRD analysis. The thickness of compound layer increased with the increase of nitrogen content in the gas composition. Maximum case depth was obtained at gas pressure of 200Pa.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.27-34
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• 2001

The effects of pre-heat treatment(Q/T) on microstructure and hardness of STD11 and STD61 tool steel nitrided by micro-pulse plasma were investigated. The quenching temperature for obtaining matrix hardness of STD11 and STD61 steel on range of HRC 50 to HRC 60 desired for machine parts is about $1070^{\circ}C$ and $1020^{\circ}C$ respectively. The hardness of STD11 and STD61 quenched at the temperature was HRC 63 and HRC 56 respectively. The nitrided case depth of STD11 and STD61 nitrided at $550^{\circ}C$ for 5 hours was independent of pre-heat treatment condition and the depth was approximately $100{\mu}m$. However, hardness and compactness of nitrided layer on Q/T treated specimen were higher than the annealed specimen. The case depth increased linearly with the increase of nitriding temperature, however, the hardness of nitrided layer decreased with the increase of temperature. Phase mixture of ${\gamma}-Fe_4N$ and ${\varepsilon}-Fe_{2-3}N$ was detected by XRD analysis in the nitrided layer formed at the optimum nitriding condition. The optimum nitriding temperature was approximately $490^{\circ}C$ which was $10^{\circ}C$ lower than the tempering temperature for preventing softening behavior of STD11 and STD61 matrix during nitriding process and the surface hardness of nitrided layer obtained by optimum pre-heat treatment condition was about Hv1400.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.117-128
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• 1999

This study was carried out to investigate the surface characteristics of SCM440 steel nitrided with various nitrogen contents for 7 hours at $520^{\circ}C$ by using micro-pulse plasma nitriding apparatus of hot wall type. The effects of oxidation treatment was also investigated on plasma nitrided in 30% nitrogen and post oxidized SCM440 steel at $500^{\circ}C$ in $H_2O$ atmosphere. The ${\gamma}^{\prime}-Fe_4N$ and ${\varepsilon}-Fe_{2-3}N$ phases were detected in compound layer of the nitrided steel. As the content of nitrogen in plasma gas increased with 30, 50, 70% on the micro-pulse plasma nitriding for SCM440 steel, the thickness of compound, diffusion layer and the surface hardness were increased. From the wear test results, the best wear resistance was appeared in the condition of ductile ${\gamma}^{\prime}-Fe_4N$ phase formed specimen at 30% nitrogen, whereas that of the treated with 50% and 70% nitrogen decreased owing to the exfoliation of brittle ${\varepsilon}-Fe_{2-3}N$ phase in the compound layer. On the nitrided and subsequently oxidized SCM440 steel, the surface layer consisted of $Fe_3O_4$, ${\gamma}^{\prime}-Fe_4N$, and ${\varepsilon}-Fe_{2-3}N$ phases. In these treatments, the dissolution of nitrides affect hardness and hardening depth in compound and diffusion layers. For the nitrided in 30% nitrogen and post oxidized specimen at $500^{\circ}C$ for 1 hour, the wear resistance was lower than that of the only nitrided one in 30% nitrogen but higher than those of the nitrided ones in 50 and 70% nitrogen.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.47 no.10
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• pp.629-634
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• 2009

The effects of processing parameters on the surface properties of the hardened layers processed by the low temperature plasma nitrocarburizing and the low temperature two-step plama treatment (carburizing+nitriding) were investigated. The nitrogen-enriched expanded austenite structure (${\gamma}_N$) or S phase was formed on all of the treated surface. The surface hardness reached up to 1200 $HV_{0.025}$, which is about 5 times higher than that of untreated sample (250 $HV_{0.1}$). The thickness of hardened layer of the low temperature plasma nitrocarburized layer treated at $400^{\circ}C$ for 40 hour was only $15{\mu}m$, while the layer thicknesss in the two-step plama treatment for the 30 hour treatment increased up to about $30{\mu}m$. The surface thickness and hardness increased with increasing treatment temperature and time. In addition, the corrosion resistance was enhanced than untreated samples due to a high concentration of N on the surface. However, higher treatment temperature and longer treatment time resulted in the formation of $Cr_2N$ precipitates, which causes the degradation of corrosion resistance.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 1999.07a
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• pp.196-196
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• 1999

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.6-11
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• 1999