Improving corrosion and wear resistance of FV520B steel by high current pulsed electron beam surface treatment

• HCPEB surface treatment was conducted on FV520B steel.
• Surface layer ∼10 μm was refined with elements homogenization.
• Remelted layer exhibited 〈2 0 0〉 preferential orientation.
• Corrosion potential increased and corrosion rate decreased one order of magnitude.
• Wear resistance increased by 3 times.

High current pulsed electron beam (HCPEB) surface treatment was conducted on FV520B steel with accelerating voltage 27 kV, pulse duration 2.5 μs, energy density 5 J/cm2 and 1–25 pulses. The surface microstructure and element distribution were examined by using scanning electron microscope (SEM), electron probe micro-analysis (EPMA) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) methods. After HCPEB treatments, the surface microstructure became refined and uniform with an average grain size less than 2 μm and a preferential solidification orientation in 〈2 0 0〉 direction. The thickness of surface remelted layer was ∼4 μm. The initial precipitated particles in surface layer of depth ∼10 μm were dissolved into the base matrix and gave a homogenous element distribution. The HCPEB modified surface exhibited an effective improvement in corrosion and wear resistance. The corrosion potential shifted towards positive and the corrosion rate decreased nearly one order of magnitude, while the wear resistance after 25 pulses of HCPEB treatment increased by 3 times as compared with the initial FV520B steel.