Quality Evaluation of Carburized Surfaces of Steels Used in Military Technology

Carburizing is used in applications where there is a high demand for surface hardness and abrasion resistance along with core toughness requirements. Carburizing is mainly used for parts which are subjected to abrasion, such as shafts, pins, gears, cams, etc. At the same time as the hardness of the surface layer increases, the fatigue limit of the steel increases after carburizing. The article deals with the evaluation of surface quality of carburized steels 16MnCr5 and 14NiCr14 in terms of surface texture change and dimension change after application of car-burizing. The analysed steels are used mainly in the production of gear wheels for gearboxes of wheeled, tracked and artillery. Furthermore, the coefficients of friction and wear were evaluated on these steels. The functional surfaces of heat-treated steels were analysed after grinding and after gas carburizing. The evaluation of the sur-face quality results in a deterioration of the surface roughness and an increase in dimensions after carburizing. The coefficient of friction after carburizing reaches a higher value compared to ground surfaces, while the coeffi-cient of wear decreases.