Plasticity and ab initio characterizations on Fe4N produced on the surface of nanocrystallized 18Ni-maraging steel plasma nitrided at lower temperature

Abstract: 18Ni-maraging steel has been entirely nanocrystallized by a series of processes including solution treatment, hot-rolling deformation, cold-drawn deformation and direct electric heating. The plasma nitriding of nanocrystallized 18Ni-maraging steel was carried out at 410°C for 3h and 6h in a mixture gas of 20% N2 +80% H2 with a pressure of 400Pa. The surface phase constructions and nitrogen concentration profile in surface layer were analyzed using an X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and the glow discharge spectrometry (GDS), respectively. The results show that an about 2μm thick compound layer (mono-phase γ′-Fe4N) can be produced on the top of the surface layer of nanocrystallized 18Ni-maraging steel plasma nitrided at 410°C for 6h. The measured hardness value of the nitrided surface is 11.6GPa. More importantly, the γ′-Fe4N phase has better plasticity, i.e., its plastic deformation energy calculated from the load-displacement curve obtained by nano-indentation tester is close to that of nanocrystallized 18Ni-maraging steel. Additionally, the mechanical properties of γ′-Fe4N phase were also characterized by first-principles calculations. The calculated results indicate that the hardness value and the ratio of bulk to shear modulus (B/G) of the γ′-Fe4N phase are 10.15GPa and 3.12 (>1.75), respectively. This demonstrates that the γ′-Fe4N phase has higher hardness and better ductility. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]