Microstructure of nitrogen implanted stainless steel after wear experiment

Outstanding wear resistance of austenitic stainless steel after nitrogen insertion and formation of expanded austenite in the temperature range below 420 °C is a well established phenomena. However, detailed information on the wear mechanism for the modified surfaces is still missing. This paper presents the results of wear experiments performed in a dry oscillating geometry against a WC ball (diameter 3 mm, load 3 N), together with metallographic investigations of the resulting cross-sections, both with and without nitriding. Comparisons with calculated stress distributions indicate that those nitrided samples showing a specific wear reduction by a factor of about 100 were subjected to a combination of stress maxima within the surface layer and below the layer in the bulk material.