Effects of Plasma Nitriding on the Erosion Behavior of AISI 403 Stainless Steel Solid State Particles

This study investigated the effects of plasma nitriding on the erosion behavior of AISI 403 stainless steel solid state particles at ambient temperature and 620 °C using Fe3O4 erodent particles at impact angles of 15-90 . The plasma nitriding formed a thick hardened layer which had a high microhardness of 1210 ± 15 Hv. At ambient temperature, AISI 403 suffered from severe erosion damage at low impact angles and exhibited ductile erosive behavior, while the nitrided layer experienced no significant damage at any impact angles. For AISI 403, the erosion rates at 620 °C were ~2 times higher than those obtained at ambient temperature. When eroded at 620 °C, the nitrided layer exhibited a ductile erosive manner, with a maximum erosion rate occurring at a low impact angle of 30 . The results from high temperature hardness measurement and the observation of the eroded surface are discussed to explain the high-temperature erosion behavior of the nitrided AISI 403 stainless steel. †(Received October 18, 2013)