Low temperature plasma carburising of austenitic stainless steels for improved wear and corrosion resistance

A novel plasma surface engineering process has been developed for engineering the surfaces of austenitic stainless steels to achieve combined improvements in wear and corrosion resistance. The process employs carbon as the major alloying species in the glow discharge of a plasma, facilitating the diffusion of carbon into the surfaces of various austenitic stainless steels and forming a precipitate free layer supersaturated with carbon at relatively low temperatures. This low temperature plasma surface alloying process produces a surface engineered layer several tens of micrometres thick, which has a high hardness together with excellent wear and corrosion resistance. The present paper describes various aspects of the novel process, concerning processing, structures, properties, and applications to engineering components. (C) 1999 IoM Communications Ltd.