Low-temperature formation of boron-containing layers and coatings by electron-ion-plasma method

Abstract

Saturation of the surface of metals and alloys with boron is one of the promising methods for improving the service characteristics of the material. The aim of the present work is to analyze the elemental and phase composition, the state of the defective substructure of the surface layer of high chromium steel, which has been saturated with boron atoms under combined treatment conditions. It has been shown that low-temperature (653 K) ion-plasma borating allows forming a multilayer structure with a total thickness of up to 15 um, containing nano-sized borides of iron and chromium. The hardness of the «film (B)/substrate (AISI 304 steel)» system was increased by 2.2 times relative to the steel in the initial state; hardness of «film (B)/substrate (AISI 310S steel)» system exceeds hardness of initial steel by 1.2 times. The «film (B/W)/substrate (steel)» system is formed and melted with an intense pulsed electron beam. The formation of nanoscale particles of borides and carboborides of iron and chromium was revealed. It is shown that the hardness of the «film (B/W)/substrate (AISI 304 steel)» system after irradiation with an electron beam is 1.5 times lower than the hardness of steel in the initial state; hardness of the «film (B/W)/substrate (AISI steel 310S)» system - 2.3 times.