Abstract
Plasma nitrocarburized AISI 1020 steels were oxidized for 15, 30 and 60 min to evaluate their corrosion and microstructural properties. After plasma nitrocarburizing for 3 h at 570°C in a gas mixture comprising 85 vol.% N2, 12vol.% H2 and 3 vol.% CH4, the compound layer composed of ɛ-Fe2–3(N,C) and γ’-Fe4(N,C) phases and the diffusion layer above the matrix were observed. The top oxide layer, consisting mainly of magnetite (Fe2O4) and hematite (Fe2O3) phases, forms after post-oxidation treatment at 500°C. However, the oxide layer was severely degraded by spallation as a result of increases in post-oxidizing time. The difference in corrosion resistance should be attributed to the thickness of the top oxide layer, which was governed by post-oxidizing time.
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