Abstract
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 (<TEX>${\gamma}C$</TEX>) 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 <TEX>$500^{\circ}C$</TEX>. The hardened layer thickness of <TEX>${\gamma}C$</TEX> increased up to about <TEX>$35\;{\mu}m$</TEX>, with increasing treatment temperature. The surface hardness reached about 1000 <TEX>$HK_{0.05}$</TEX>, which is about 4 times higher than that of the untreated sample (250 <TEX>$HK_{0.05}$</TEX>). Minor loss in corrosion resistance was observed for the specimens treated at temperatures of <TEX>$310^{\circ}C-450^{\circ}C$</TEX> compared with untreated austenitic stainless steel. Particularly, the precipitation of chromium carbides at <TEX>$500^{\circ}C$</TEX> led to a significant decrease in the corrosion resistance.
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