Boriding Temperature Effect on Micro-Abrasion Wear Resistance of Borided Tool Steel

Microstructure, hardness, and micro-abrasion behavior of borided H13 tool steel (borided at 1073, 1173, and 1273 K with nanoboron powder for 6 h) were studied. A single-phase boride layer was observed on the borided sample at 1073 K, while a double-phase boride layer was observed on the borided samples at high temperatures. FeB-Fe2B phases as well as CrB-MnB phases were determined in the XRD analysis of the samples. The hardness of the borided samples increased up to values above 2000 HV0.1. The thicker boride layer obtained due to the boriding process at high temperatures provided the retention of high hardness in the inner regions. The highest micro-abrasion resistance was obtained with the borided sample at 1273 K. Depending on the increasing load, volume losses increased on all samples under all conditions. Higher wear losses were determined in the tests performed with high-dimensional SiC. In the tests conducted with SiC F800, the dominant wear mechanism was micro-grooving wear mechanism, while in SiC F1200 tests the wear mechanism was micro-rolling and micro-scratching mechanisms. The abrasion resistance of the untreated sample was attributed to the abrasive particles sinking onto the surface.