BORON AND NITROGEN IMPLANTATION OF STEELS

Samples of four steels with varying chromium content were implanted wi th boron and seperately with nitrogen. Implantation energy was 75 keV in all cases. Implantation profiles were modeled using TRIM and determ ined experimentally by ion beam analysis. Boron ion sources leading to improved ion beams will be discussed, Material characterization inclu ded tribology and nano-indentation, Implanted materials showed improve ments in wear resistance in all cases involving boron implantation, wh ile nitrogen implantation resulted in improved wear resistance for thr ee of the four materials. Reduced coefficients of friction were observ ed for boron implanted materials with a surface layer of amorphous car bon. The improvement of wear rate due to implantation and reduced coef ficient of friction due to the carbon layer were independent results a llowing for separate control of these properties. Nano-indentation res ults show an increase in the hardness of the implanted regions for two of the materials, 1018 and 304. Results of micro-structural analysis through grazing incidenceglancing angle X-ray diffraction showed iron- nitride formation and in one case chromium-nitride formation, Evidence of iron-boride compound formation in boron implanted materials has be en seen.