The Impact of Prenitriding on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of the Carburized Surface Layer in a Martensitic Stainless Steel

In article 2100849, Tian, Song, and co-workers study a favorable combination of microstructure and mechanical properties of 14Cr14Co13Mo5 can be obtained by pre-nitriding before carburizing. The pre-nitriding can effectively refine the martensite substructure due to the refinement of prior austenite grain. Plenty of second phase particles M2N with finer size appear at the same case layer depth instead of coarse M23C6 in the specimen pre-nitrided, which optimize the microstructure of the case layer.