Research Information System
MATERIALS TESTING, vol.57, no.5, pp.443-446, 2015 (SCI-Expanded)
In order to investigate the different Cr-N formation characteristics of plasma nitrided hard Cr coatings, Cr was electrodeposited on AISI 1010 steel and plasma nitrided at 600, 700 and 800 degrees C for 3 h, 5 h and 7 h, respectively. Phase analyses of resulting Cr-N phases and grain size of Cr layer before and after nitriding process were calculated by X-ray diffraction analysis. Structure of nitride layer and its thickness were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy micrographs. The micrographs indicated that samples consisted of three distinctive layers. In order to distinguish these layers, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDX) analysis were used as well as elemental distribution versus depth was plotted. The Cr-N diffusion was investigated by layer thickness measurements, and diffusion coefficient as well as activation energies were calculated.