Cold Gas Spraying of Solution-Hardened 316L Grade Stainless Steel Powder

Austenitic steels are characterized by their outstanding corrosion resistance. They are therefore suitable for a wide range of surface protection requirements. The application potential of these stainless steels is often limited by their poor wear resistance. In the field of wrought alloys, interstitial surface hardening has become established for simultaneously acting surface stresses. This approach also offers great potential for improvement in the field of coating technology. The hardening of powder feedstock materials promises an advantage in the treatment of large components and also as a repair technology. In this work, the surface hardening of AISI 316L powder and its processing by thermal spraying is presented. A partial formation of the metastable expanded austenitic phase was observed for the powder particles by low-temperature gas nitrocarburizing. The successful deposition was demonstrated by cold gas spraying. The amount of expanded austenitic phase within the coating structure strongly depends on the processing conditions. Microstructure, corrosion and wear behavior were studied. Process diagnostic methods were used to validate the results.

Dimensional Stability of Low Temperature Surface Hardened Stainless Steel Components*

Stainless steels are commonly used for high precision components, which often are exposed to corrosive media. However, their inferior tribological behaviour restrict the use of these materials in many technical applications. Thermochemical surface hardening is one way to overcome these weaknesses. Solution nitriding in the austenitic range above 1000 °C is mainly used for hardening martensitic and ferritic stainless grades. In austenitic and duplex stainless grades, however, the hardening effect is limited. Additionally, the high process temperatures combined with a necessary rapid cooling may lead to non-desired dimensional changes. Low temperature surface hardening processing below 500 °C here offers interesting alternatives for increasing the wear properties, while maintaining the corrosion resistance. This paper demonstrates the influence of high and low process temperatures of thermochemical surface hardening treatments on the tight dimensional tolerances of a rotationally symmetrical precision component made from cold worked AISI 304. Based on these results, current and new industrial applications, which benefit from low temperature surface hardening, will be discussed.

Boriding of Laser-Clad Inconel 718 Coatings for Enhanced Wear Resistance

Nickel-based superalloys are particularly suitable for applications under corrosive conditions. Economic advantages can be achieved by limiting the use of materials to the surface region. Furthermore, the tribological property profile can be significantly improved by surface hardening. In the present study, the possibility of a process combination comprising a coating and a surface hardening technology was investigated. For this purpose, Inconel 718 coatings were applied to austenitic stainless steel by laser cladding. Subsequently, a thermochemical surface hardening by boriding was carried out. Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) examinations were performed to evaluate the microstructure. The phase composition was determined by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD) for the different states of the coating system. The influence of thermochemical hardening was investigated for different wear conditions. The increase in microhardness and wear resistance clearly demonstrates the utilization potential of the presented process combination.

Hardening Efficiency and Microstructural Changes during Laser Surface Hardening of 50CrMo4 Steel

Laser surface hardening is an attractive heat treatment solution used to selectively enhance the surface properties of components by phase transformation. A quantitative parameter to measure the efficacy of hardening processes is still lacking, which hinders its application in industries. In this paper, we propose a simple approach to assess the effectiveness of the process by calculating its thermal efficiency. The proposed method was applied to calculate the hardening efficiency during different laser processing conditions. This study revealed that only a small portion of supplied laser energy (approximately 1–15%) is utilized for hardening. For the same laser system, the highest efficiency is achieved when surface melting is just avoided. A comparative study showed that pulsed lasers are more efficient in energy utilization for hardening than continuous wave laser. Similarly, the efficiency of a high-power laser is found to be higher than a low-power laser and an increase in beam absorption produces higher hardening efficiency. The analysis of the hardened surface revealed predominantly martensite. The hardness value gradually decreased along the depth, which is attributed to the decrease in percentage of martensite.

Introducing gradient severe shot peening as a novel mechanical surface treatment

Shot peening is widely used for improving mechanical properties especially fatigue behavior of metallic components by inducing surface hardening, compressive residual stresses and surface grain refinement. In air blast shot peening, projection pressure and surface coverage (an index of peening duration) have been considered as major controlling process parameters; the combination of these parameters plays a critical role in the beneficial effects of shot peening. Generally in severe shot peening aimed at obtaining surface grain refinement, constant values of pressure are considered with different peening durations. Considering very high peening duration, however, the phenomenon of over shot peening, which can be identified with the formation of surface defects could occur. The present study introduces a novel shot peening treatment, here called gradient severe shot peening (GSSP) that instead of using constant projection pressure, implements gradually increasing or decreasing pressures. The gradual increase of the projection pressure acts as a pre-hardening stage for the following higher projection pressure boosting the potential of the material to tolerate the sequential impacts and thus become less prone to the formation of surface defects. The results of the experiments indicate significant fatigue life improvement obtained for GSSP treated specimens compared to the standard treatment with constant pressure. GSSP avoids the detrimental effects of over-peening, while maintaining the beneficial effects of surface nano-crystallization, surface hardening and compressive residual stresses. The notable difference in fatigue strength enhancement for GSSP treated material can be also attributed to the modulated surface morphology with lower surface roughness compared to a standard shot peening treatment with the same exposure time.