SURFACE CHARACTERISTICS OF STAINLESS STEEL AISI 3 I 6L AFTER LOW TEMPERATURE HYBRID THERMOCHEMICAL TREATMENT

Austenitic stainless steels are the most popular materials in the stainless steel
family used in various applications due to their excellent corrosion resistance and
good Conning characteristics. Nevertheless. this type of materials has low hardness as
well as poor wear resistance due to the inherent austenitic structure.
Earlier attempts to increase the surface hardness and wear resistance of austenitic
stainless steels b) surface treatments have led to the deterioration in corrosion
resistance arising from the depletion in chromium in the hardened layer. The
development of low temperature nitriding and carburizing processes which are carried
out at temperatures lower than 500°C without impairing its corrosion resistance have
been successfully conducted by innovative techniques. including plasma nitriding. ion
beam nitriding and ion implantation.