Plasma nitriding of HP13Cr supermartensitic stainless steel

Abstract

Supermartensitic stainless steels (SMSS) are commonly employed in the oil exploitation industry and present a good balance between the necessary physical and chemical properties and financial costs. Certain applications, such as in extreme corrosive and abrasive environments, demand improvements in the surface properties of these steels. In the present work, HP13Cr SMSS with a fully martensitic microstructure were plasma nitrided in the 350–450°C range. The high diffusivity and low solubility of nitrogen in the martensitic structure allowed the production of thick layers (16–61μm) containing ɛ-Fe2–3N, γ′-Fe4N and expanded phase (αN) in all the temperatures. In addition, anisotropic sputtering rate and N-diffusion were observed for different grain orientations. Mechanical properties were measured by instrumented indentation, appropriately corrected from roughness effects on the results. Hardness profiles increased from 3.8GPa (bulk) to ∼14GPa (near surface region) in all the working temperatures, whereas the elastic modulus was 230GPa, presenting no statistically significant differences with respect to the bulk value. Nanoscratch tests revealed a hardened-ductile like behavior of these nitride layers. The surface tribo-mechanical behavior was correlated with elastic–plastic responses of the precipitate-containing texturized layers. Results are interpreted in light of the effectiveness of plasma nitriding to modify the surface properties of SMSS.