Electron beam hardening of ion nitrided layers

Abstract

The effect of high speed scan electron beam treatment of ion nitrided layers was studied. The experiments were performed using samples from conventional ion nitriding steel with nominal composition (wt%) of 0.42% C, 0.96% Cr, 0.6% Mn, 0.37% Si balance Fe. The hardness of the electron beam hardened layer varies in the range 800–850 HV. The high hardness is due to the refined structure consisting of α-solid solution (nitrous martensite) and γ-solid solution (nitrous austenite) and dispersed fine nitride precipitation's. The wear resistance of electron beam treated layer is twice increased compared to the one of ion nitrided specimen.