Effect of Post-Plasma Nitrocarburized Treatment on Mechanical Properties of Carburized and Quenched 18Cr2Ni4WA Steel

Under extreme conditions such as high speed and heavy load, 18Cr2Ni4WA steel cannot meet the service requirements even after carburizing and quenching processes. In order to obtain better surface mechanical properties and tribological property, a hollow cathode ion source diffusion strengthening device was used to nitride the traditional carburizing and quenching samples. Unlike traditional ion carbonitriding technology, the low-temperature ion carbonitriding technology used in this article can increase the surface hardness of the material by 50% after 3 h of treatment, from the original 600 HV0.1 to 900 HV0.1, while the core hardness only decreases by less than 20%. The effect of post-ion carbonitriding treatment on mechanical properties and tribological properties of the carburized and quenched 18Cr2Ni4WA steel was investigated. Samples in different treatment are characterized using optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), optimal SRV-4 high temperature tribotester, as well as Vickers hardness tester. Under two conditions of 6N light load and 60 N heavy load, compared with untreated samples, the wear rate of ion carbonitriding samples decreased by more than 99%, while the friction coefficient remained basically unchanged. Furthermore, the careful selection of ion nitrocarburizing and carburizing tempering temperatures in this study has been shown to significantly enhance surface hardness and wear resistance, while preserving the overall hardness of the carburized sample. The present study demonstrates the potential of ion carbonitriding technology as a viable post-treatment method for carburized gears.