Evaluation of Properties of Glow Discharge Plasma Nitrided C-300 Maraging Steel

Abstract

In this study, Glow Discharge Plasma Nitriding (GD_PN) of C-300 maraging steel is conducted at 425 °C to 500 °C for 4 h using H 2 and N 2 in a ratio of 4:1. The GD_PN treated surface is characterized by XRD and SEM and assessed for micro-hardness, tensile strength, corrosion as well as wear resistance. The micro-hardness measurements show an improvement in the hardness of the samples’ surface by an approximate factor of 3.2. In the context of the case depth, it varies from 11.53 μm for 425 °C to 92.58 μm for 500 °C. The wear test results show improvement in wear resistance by a factor of 23.46 for treatment at 490 °C compared to the untreated sample. The tensile tests indicate that the ultimate tensile strength increases by a factor of 2.23 for treatment at 490 °C in comparison with the untreated sample. The XRD results depict that the plasma nitrided layer is incorporated with γ′-Fe4N as well as ε- Fe 2 - 3N phase. Finally, best corrosion resistance is observed for maraging steel sample treated at 490 °C.