STRUCTURE AND SLIDING WEAR BEHAVIOR OF NITROGEN ION-IMPLANTED STAINLESS-STEEL

The influence of nitrogen ion implantation on the structure and wear b ehaviour of unpolished 304 stainless steel has been studied. Glancing angle X-ray diffraction before implantation showed that the specimens contain some bce and hcp (martensite) phases, whereas after implantati on iron nitrides were observed, accompanied by a reduction in the mart ensite content. In general, sliding went. measurements revealed that n itrogen implantation improved the wear peformance, except at applied l oads greater than 40 N. Microhardness measurements inside the wear tra cks were higher for the unimplanted specimens, and only a small increa se in hardness existed for the implanted specimen after testing at low loads. At loads higher than 40 N there was little difference In the a mount of wear between the implanted and unimplanted specimens. Scannin g electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray analysis have been u sed to characterise the differences in the mode of wear between unimpl anted and implanted specimens.