Abstract
UNS S31603 stainless steel (SS) substrates were covered by reactive magnetron-sputtering with protective SS coatings of the same steel specification. A mechanical characterization study (through nano-, micro- and macro-hardness tests) of samples obtained under two different sputtering conditions and varying the N2 gas flow rate was carried out. This contribution aimed at appraising the effects of varying the nitrogen flow rate on hardness, elastic modulus, and susceptibility to indentation-induced crack formation of the coated SSs. Nitrogen-free samples displayed body-centered cubic (BCC) films with 9.0-9.4 GPa hardness and 203-206 GPa elastic modulus, while their susceptibility to indentation-induced cracking varied between superior and moderated among the two sets of sputtering conditions studied. Samples alloyed with 4-6 N at-% displayed a predominantly face-centered cubic (FCC) structure, 9.4 GPa hardness, 196-218 GPa elastic modulus, and superior resistance to crack formation. Samples with 11.5-22.0 N at-% were fully composed of the FCC structure, displayed 12.4-15.2 GPa hardness, 188-193 GPa elastic modulus, and moderated resistance to indentation-induced crack formation. Samples with 47.0 N at-% displayed FCC compound nitride structure, for which hardness and elastic modulus were 8.1 GPa and 139 GPa, respectively. These samples displayed low resistance to crack formation.
Highlights
Austenitic stainless steels (ASSs) are commonly used as anticorrosive structural alloys[1]
This study aims to assess the influence of variations in the nitrogen flow rate on hardness, elastic modulus, and susceptibility to indentation-induced cracking of UNS S31603 SS substrates coated with SS films of the same material specification
The prevalence of a few of the XRD reflections over the others in SS sputtered films has been discussed elsewhere by Schneider et al.[31], who explained this as a consequence of film growth with a strong crystallographic texture
Summary
Austenitic stainless steels (ASSs) are commonly used as anticorrosive structural alloys[1]. Li et al.[2] showed superior anticorrosion properties of stainless steel (SS) films fabricated by magnetron-sputtering. Li et al.[2] showed that SS-sputtered films exhibit higher protection against corrosion than similar volumetric conventional SSs3. Lo et al.[1] reviewed the diverse processes developed for surface modification of ASSs, with the aim of improving their antiscratching capacity and hardness. This article deals with the surface modification of UNS S31603 stainless steel (SS) by covering conventional steel samples with SS protective films using magnetron-sputtering
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