WEAR AND HARDNESS BEHAVIOR OF DUPLEX-

TREATED AISI 1045 AND AISI 4142 STEELS

 CONTENTS

• Introduction

• Literature Survey

• Problem Definition

• Objective

• Experimental details

• Results and Discussion

• References
 INTRODUCTION

Nowadays the energy losses due to friction and excessive wear of the components
are considered to be the major factor for its failure.

Hence some surface hardening techniques are required to thereby increase its
subsurface properties. These techniques include
1) Thermo chemical diffusion method
2) Applied energy or thermal methods
3) Surface coating or surface-modification method
 INTRODUCTION

• Surface hardening is a broad phrase that refers to a variety of procedures that

improve the wear resistance of ferrous parts while preserving the softer and
tough interior.
• Duplex surface engineering entails the use of two (or even more) established
surface technologies in a sequential manner to create a surface composite with
combined features that are not possible with any single surface technology
• Only a handful duplex procedures have been created to date, and only a few
have found real-world applications. The primary benefit of the duplex
treatment is that it first modifies the substrate's surface and subsurface to form
a deep hardened case that can be a few micrometres thick. The coating is then
effectively supported by such a subsurface.
 LITERATURE SURVEY
AUTHOR & YEAR WORK DONE
J.C.A. Batista b, M.C. Joseph, Studied the micro-abrasion wear
C. Godoy and A. Matthews testing of PVD TiN coatings on
untreated and
plasma nitrided AISI H13 steel
and found the hardness and
adhesion characteristic.
I.Camposa, G.Ramirez, U.
Figueroa , G. Rodriguez
Nitrided and non nitrided
samples were subsequently
coated with bi-layer TiAlN/TiN
to two different
thicknesses. Coating technique
was PVD cathodic arc
evaporation .
RESULTS
The single-layered TiN
coating improves the wear
resistance by 23% while
the duplex
TiN coating improves the
wear resistance of a
single-layered TiN coating
by 47%
The thin coating system
over nitrided substrate is
harder than the coating
system over non nitrided
substrates while the
hardness across the thick
coating system is softer
than the thin coating
system.
 LITERATURE SURVEY
AUTHOR & YEAR WORK DONE RESULTS
M.A.Bejar, E.Moreno Analyzed the abrasive wear The boronized 1020 steel
performance on the exhibited the greatest abrasive
boronized samples of aisi wear resistance.
1020,1045,4140,4340

I. Campos, R. Torres , O. Treated the AISI M2 The boron mobility and

Bautista, G. Ramirez and samples with boron paste growth kinetics of iron
L. Zuniga that consisted of B4C with borides are considerably
activators in this case increased when the paste
cryolite-mixed with water. thickness is increased at
The water/ paste ratio was constant values of
0.2. temperature and exposure
time
 PROBLEM DEFINITION

• The steels used in various applications are subjected to wear as it losses its
hardness over a period of time.

• By a single hardening process there occurred damage on the deposited layer

resulting in the wear of the components.
 OBJECTIVE

To combine several surface technologies so that duplex layer can be

produced. One of these duplex treatments involves the combination of
boronizing and subsequent PVD coating of steels where the micro
hardness along with the wear resistance property of the components can
be significantly increased.
Methodology
 SUBSTRATE MATERIAL
The chemical composition analysis of the steels is as follows

AISI 1045 AISI 4142

Element Composition% Element Composition%

Carbon 0.437
Carbon 0.423 Manganese 0.615
Manganese 0.715
Silicon 0.214
Silicon 0.177
Sulphur 0.019
Sulphur 0.022
Phosphorus 0.017 Phosphorus 0.020
Ferrous Balance Chromium 1.182
Copper 0.055
Molybdenum 0.275
Nickel 0.064
Ferrous Balance
 EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS

• AISI 1045 and AISI 4142 steel samples with dimensions 23mm diameter and
13mm length were used as substrates.

• Each rod was cut into five pieces by a wire cut EDM followed by grinding
process.
 EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS-BORONIZING PROCESS

• The samples were covered by boron paste (the paste consists of B4C
with 76 wt % of boron) to required thickness and were exposed at the
temperature of 1153 K with a treatment time of 1 hr in a conventional
furnace.

• After the treatment, the boronizing paste was removed through

brushing/ washing.

• The samples were again heated to 1128 K in the same furnace.

• At the end of the process, the samples were quenched in oil.

EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS-PVD PROCESS

• The coating system was deposited by

employing PVD cathodic arc evaporation
(CAE).
• An arc with a diameter of just a few microns
is run over the solid metallic coating material,
causing it to evaporate.
• The evaporated material is almost totally
ionized and forms high-energy plasma. These
metal ions combine with the reactive gas that
is introduced into the chamber and strike the
components to be coated with high energy.
 EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS-PVD PVD PROCESS
PARAMETERS

Operating pressure 3.5×10-5 to 4×10-5 bar

Power rating 200kw

Beam voltage 200v

Deposition time 2 hr
Duplex Treated samples (Boronized + PVD TiN
coated)
Temperature 350⁰C

Colour Golden
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION- MICRO HARDNESS RESULTS

• The micro hardness measurements were measured on the cross section of the
samples using Micro Vickers Hardness Tester-Wolpert Group at varying
depths from the surface.

• A diamond pyramid indenter was pressed on to a prepared metal surface to

cause a indentation for measurement.

• The micro hardness values of the boronized specimens were about 1500-1700
Hv0.1 respectively.After coating the hardness increased on an average scale of
3500 Hv in both the sample an increase in hardness was attributed due to the
formation of cubic boron nitride which is the one of the hardest compound
 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION- MICRO HARDNESS RESULTS

Indentation Regions Hardness (Hv0.1)

• From these results it was
AISI 1045 AISI 4142
observed that, after the duplex
Base material 287 443 treatment of the samples there
Base material 291.6 465 was ultimate increase in micro
Interface 487.2 510.6 hardness values when compared
Interface 546.5 525.3 to its base hardness.
25µm from interface 1599.3 1695.5
• Also the boronized layer
35 µm from interface 1680.4 1738.8 improved the mechanical
PVD Region 3503.6 3795.1 support for the single-layered
PVD Region 3529 3806 TiN coating deposited over it.

Micro Hardness values for AISI 1045 and AISI 4142 steels
 
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION- MICRO HARDNESS RESULTS

AISI 1045 steel AISI 4142 steel

Micro hardness profile of duplex treated (a) AISI 1045 steel (b) AISI 4142
steel
 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION- SEM ANALYSIS OF AISI 1045
AND AISI 4142 STEELS

• The micrographs of the samples shows that

the boride layer had a toothed morphology
and this structure was homogeneously
distributed over the surface.
• The TiN layer was found to have a denser
and a finer microstructure with a varying
thickness of 2-3µm above the diffused
Micrograph of the Duplex layer in (a) AISI 1045 steel and (b) region.
AISI 4142 steel
  It was also observed that the greatest
thickness of the boride layer was obtained
in AISI 1045 steel, which is a low carbon
steel, without any alloy elements. With the
increasing of carbon and the alloying
content, the boride layer thickness
decreased. This decrease is attributed to the
low solubility of carbon in the boride layer.
 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION- THICKNESS OF THE LAYER

Samples Boride layer TiN Coating thickness(µm)

thickness(µm)
AISI 1045 47.8 2.98
AISI 4142 42.6 2.18

 It was observed that the layer thickness of the low carbon specimens were
more than that of high carbon steels boronized under the same conditions.
 Therefore, it was proved that this study was consistent with previous studies
stating that that the boron diffusion in low alloy steels is generally higher
than that in alloyed and high carbon steels
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION- WEAR TEST AND EVALUATION

• Wear performance of duplex treated sample was assessed by a micro

abrasion tester in which the samples were subjected to block- on- ring
method of testing with diamond slurry as abrasive medium to increase the
severity of the abrasion.

• Commercially available Plint-TE-66 micro abrasion tester ,M/s Phoenix

tribology Ltd., UK was used for the test in accordance with the standard
ASTM G 77, in which the coated samples were pressed against the directly
driven steel ball, under a fixed ball rotating at 150 rpm.
 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION- WEAR TEST AND
EVALUATION

• Diamond particles which are less than a sub-micrometer range are mixed
with turpentine to form diamond slurry. This diamond slurry was
continuously fed on the interface between the ball and the sample
throughout the test.

• The duplex treated samples were subjected to abrasion with two different
loads 1 N and 2 N for a duration of 3 min and 5 min.

• The diameter of the wear scars was measured using video measuring system
from which the wear volume of the samples can be analyzed.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION- MICRO ABRASION TEST
PARAMETERS

Substrate Duplex treated AISI 1045 and AISI 4142 Steel

Ball material High Carbon-High Chromium material conforming to EN 31

Ball
Speed 150 Rpm

Load 0.1 N and 0.2 N

Test duration 3 min and 5 min

Slurry Diamond slurry with Turpentine ,Particle size (<1 µm)

 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION-WEAR VOLUME ANALYSIS OF
A) AISI 4142 AND B) AISI 1045 STEELS

a)

b)
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION -WEAR VOLUME VS. TIME FOR AISI 4142
STEEL

2N Load 1N Load
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION -WEAR VOLUME VS. TIME FOR
AISI 1045 STEEL

2N Load 1N Load
 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION -WEAR VOLUME ANALYSIS OF
AISI 4142 AND AISI 1045 STEELS

• From the direct plot between Wear volume and Test time at two different load
conditions for the untreated and duplex treated samples, it is apparent that the
volume of wear increases as the applied load and testing duration increases and
as expected, in each load condition, the duplex layer exhibits comparatively a
lesser wear than substrate.

• Also the AISI 4142 steel showed decreased wear volume with respect to time when
compared with AISI 1045 steel. The higher wear resistance of AISI 4142 steel is
attributed to the higher hardness in it.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION -WEAR VOLUME ANALYSIS OF
A) AISI 4142 AND B) AISI 1045 STEELS

AISI 1045 AISI 4142

 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION -WEAR VOLUME ANALYSIS OF
A) AISI 4142 AND B) AISI 1045 STEELS

• It was observed that all the samples had little fluctuations in friction coefficient
during wear test.

• The co efficient of friction was found to decrease with time in the duplex treated
samples when compared to the untreated samples.

• However duplex treated AISI 4142 steel sample showed low co-efficient of
friction values than duplex treated AISI 1045 sample, thus confirming that the
sample with higher hardness shows higher wear resistance and thereby friction is
reduced.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION-EDAX ANALYSIS OF THE

COATED LAYER

AISI 1045 AISI 4142

 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION –EDAX ANALYSIS OF THE

COATED LAYER

• The data generated by EDX analysis consist of spectra showing peaks corresponding
to the elements making up the true composition of the sample being analyzed.

• The examined results showed that the duplex treated samples contained FeB and TiN
peaks thus conforming to the elemental composition of the deposited layer.

• The iron boride phases are formed as a result of boronizing process.

• The TiN peak formed thus confirmed the presence of titanium and nitrogen in the
investigated coating.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION - XRD ANALYSIS OF

AISI 4142 STEEL

 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION- XRD ANALYSIS OF AISI 4142

STEEL

• The monolayer TiN coating and the cubic boron nitride phase demonstrates
the occurrence of the preferential (111) crystallographic orientation.

• The formation of cubic boron nitride is responsible for the improved

hardness and wear resistance in the samples and the TiN peak corresponds to
the coating material over the boronized surfaces of the samples

• This result suggests that the nitrogen in the coated region reacted with boron
which is present in the diffusion zone to form the cubic boron nitride phases.

32
 CONCLUSION

• The micro hardness measurements pointed out that the hardness values of the
AISI 4142 steel were comparatively greater than that of the AISI 1045 steels
which is because of the alloying elements that is present in AISI 4142 steel.

• The results observed for wear performance analysis revealed that the AISI 4142
steel showed low wear volume and low co- efficient of friction thus giving
improved wear resistance than the AISI 1045 steel. The higher micro hardness
value is responsible for higher wear resistance in AISI 4142 steel.
 CONCLUSION

• The XRD pattern of AISI 4142 sample resulted in the formation of mainly
two peaks namely TiN and cBN. The cubic boron nitride phase is
responsible for the higher hardness and wear resistance in the treated
samples.

• Thus the samples exhibited increased performance in terms of higher

hardness and higher wear resistance which was the result of duplex
treatment in the steels.
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