Microstructural and kinetics analysis of FeB–Fe2B layer grown by pulsed-DC powder-pack boriding on AISI 316 L steel

In this study, novel findings were obtained regarding the influence of a 10 A current intensity on the growth of an FeB–Fe2B layer during pulsed-DC powder-pack boriding. Boride layer formation was carried out on AISI 316 L steel at 1123–1223 K for different exposure times at each temperature, considering 10 s polarity inversion cycles. The boride layer was characterized by x-ray diffraction and high-speed Berkovich nanoindentation, the latter being used to determine the hardness and reduced Young’s modulus mappings along the depth of the layer-substrate system. Moreover, the growth kinetics of the FeB–Fe2B layer on the steel’s surface was modeled using the heat balance integral method (HBIM). This involved transforming Fick’s second law into ordinary differential equations over time, assuming a quadratic boron concentration profile in space to determine the B diffusion coefficients in FeB and Fe2B, respectively. From the Arrhenius relationship, the B activation energies in the boride layer were estimated considering the contribution of the electromigration effect; the results showed an approximately 30% reduction compared to the values obtained in the conventional powder-pack boriding for AISI 316 L steel. Finally, the theoretical layer thickness obtained by the HBIM demonstrated an error of no more than 5% against the experimental FeB and FeB + Fe2B layer thickness values.