Wear Resistance of Gas Nitrided Astaloy CrL™ Sintered Steel
Gas Nitriding treatment is proposed in combination with Shot Peening as a processing route to increase the wear performances of PM components made of prealloyed powder Astaloy CrL™. Porosity closure by surface densification allows limiting the depth of treatment and containing dimensional variations. 7,0 g/cm³ sintered density was considered. Pin on disk tests have been carried out at a constant load of 5N, sliding distance up to 7500m and sliding speed in the range of 0,2-2m/s. Disks in both as-sintered and gas nitrided condition, with and without Shot Peening, have been tested against a WC static counterface. An energetic interpretation of the wear rates is here presented. The different surfaces have been initially characterized through macro and microhardness profiles, LOM observations, X-ray diffraction and texture analysis.