Research of Microstructure and Properties of the 4Cr14Ni14W2Mo Steel with QPQ Salt-Bath Nitriding

The wear-resistance, corrosion resistance, hardness can be greatly increased by using low temperature QPQ complex salt-bath treatment. And it is a new strengthening method without distortion in the treating process. The surface of 4Cr14Ni14W2Mo steel was treated using this method. The microstructure and depth of the treated surface for the steel were analyzed using SEM. The sliding wear resistance was tested on the M-2000 tester and the micro-hardness was tested using 401MVA microscopy hardness tester. The corrosion resistance was tested in the 5%NaCl water by using spraying method. The experimental results indicate that a certain depth of white layer and diffusion layer of the steel can be obtained by using low temperature QPQ complex salt-bath treatment. The nitriding compound layer with high hardness, superior wear resistance and stable microstructure, can also be obtained on the surface of the parts. The highest hardness in the surface is HV0.11012. The surface hardness is 2.8 times higher than that of inner part. The depth of white layer is from 10 to 12μm. The experimental results and applied results show that the low temperature QPQ complex salt-bath treatment has many advantages, such as fast nitriding speed, uniform heating, short process time, low treating temperature, small distortion, high production rate, low cost, stable nitriding quality no pollution and so on.