Aluminizing and subsequent nitriding of plain carbon low alloy steels for piston ring applications

Nitriding is a case hardening process that is commonly used for increasing the wear life of automotive piston rings. However, special alloy steels are required to achieve high surface hardness and nitrided case depth values required by the automotive industry. The cost of such alloy steels is one of the major components of the total cost of the nitrided piston ring. To address this issue, efforts have been directed towards development of cheaper raw materials as substitutes for nitridable steels. In this study, an attempt has been made to increase the surface hardness of two plain carbon low alloy steels by aluminizing and subsequent diffusion treatment and nitriding. The process parameters for the aluminizing operation are discussed. Results indicate that a near twofold increase in surface hardness is achievable by aluminizing followed by diffusion treatment and nitriding (580-1208 HV for EN32B steel and 650-1454 HV for 15CR3 steel). It has also been found that the nitrided case depth obtained (0.11-0.13 mm for EN32B steel and 0.10-0.14 mm for 15CR3 steel) matches well with the general requirements of the piston ring industry. The diffusion of aluminum into the alloy layer has also been discussed and the theoretical predictions were compared with actual values of Al concentration, as obtained by SEM-EDS system. It is found that Fick's law gives a fairly good prediction of the actual Al concentration profile, in spite of the complexity of the diffusion path. X-Ray diffraction studies have confirmed the presence of AIN in the alloy layer, which could be instrumental in the significant increase in surface hardness. It is proposed that aluminizing followed by diffusion treatment and nitriding of plain carbon low alloy steels could provide an alternative to the use of expensive nitridable steels for piston ring applications. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.