Research on Process of Copper-Infiltration on 304 Stainless Steel by Double Glow Plasma Technology

Abstract

The effect on diffusion layer depth and copper content of the variation of various parameters in copper-infiltrated process on stainless steel surface by double glow plasma technology were researched. The process parameters contain Ar2 pressure, source voltage, heat insulation temperature and heat insulation time. The best process parameters are as follows: gas pressure:20Pa, source voltage:1000V, heat insulation temperature:950°C and heat insulation time:3h. Nowadays, the main methods of copper-infiltrated on stainless steel surface include: solid-infiltration method, paste-infiltration method, particle beam injection etc[1~4]. The strength of diffusion layer treated by the plasma metal infiltration technique is comparable to metallurgical bonding strength, and the process is low cost and less pollution.The paper systematically studied the plasma copper-infiltrated process on 304 Stainless Steel. The initial copper-infiltrated process parameters on 304 Stainless Steel were as follows[5]: Ar2 pressure: 20 Pa; source voltage: 1000 V; heat insulation temperature: 950°C; heat insulation time: 3 hours. The optimum seeking method is based on the initial process parameters, varying the value of one parameter each time. Four values of one parameter is a group contrasting experiments. Testing diffusion layer depth and copper content on surface of each experiment to be standerds of evaluation every value. The values of each parameter to be seleted were as follows: Ar2+ pressure: 10 Pa, 15 Pa, 20 Pa, 25 Pa; source voltage: 800V, 900V, 1000V, 1100V; heat insulation temperature: 800°C, 900°C, 950°C, 1000°C; heat insulation time: 2.5 h, 3 h, 3.5 h, 4 h.