Impact-sliding wear behaviour of nitrided H13 steel tool steels

In the scope of this study, quenched and tempered H13 steel samples were subjected to conventional (CN) and low temperature (LTN) gas nitriding in a fluidized bed reactor. Structural examinations revealed that surfaces of the CN sample were covered with about 1-2 µm thick compound layer (CL) with an underlying ~30 µm thick nitrogen diffusion zone (NDZ), while outer surface of the LTN sample consisted of ~25 µm thick NDZ. The surface hardness values were measured as 1320 HV0.1 for LTN sample and 1220 HV0.1 for CN sample. Under impact sliding conditions, wear mechanisms of the CN and LTN samples were determined as “oxidation + fatigue” at RT and “plastic deformation” at 600 °C. As a general trend CN sample exhibited better impact sliding wear resistance compared to LTN sample both at RT and 600 °C.