Investigation of tribological and electrochemical properties of dual layer after low temperature plasma carbo-nitriding

In the present study, the wear and corrosion properties of the modified layer that was obtained as a result of plasma nitriding were investigated. The plasma nitriding was achieved by adding carbon containing gas into the gas mixture. Plasma nitriding treatments were performed with different gas mixtures at 500 degrees C for 4 h. While a single modified layer was produced through the application of plasma nitriding into a gas mixture of N(2)-H(2), a dual layer structure was attained on the surface after adding carbon containing gas into N(2)-H(2). The inner layer was in a carbon solid solution phase (gamma(C)) and the outer layer was in a nitrogen solid solution phase (gamma(N)). It was observed that the dual layer structure improved the wear properties of the 316L stainless steel without having any adverse effect on the corrosion resistance.