Effects of gas nitriding temperature on the surface properties of a high manganese TWIP steel

Abstract

The effects of gas nitriding temperature on the cross section morphology, element nitrogen distribution, and surface layer compositions of a cold rolled and pre-strained high manganese austenitic TWIP steel 25Mn-3Cr-3Al-0.3C-0.01N and the corresponding anti-corrosion ability have been studied. The results show that, depending on nitriding temperature, the distribution of element nitrogen and main phase compositions are significantly different in the nitriding layers. At a temperature lower than 500 °C, the main composition in the modified layer is S-phase and the nitrogen concentration linearly decreases from the surface to the center, while Fe4N forms with S-phase and a step-like distribution of nitrogen content is present at nitriding temperature of 600 °C. Caused by the increasing of modified layer thickness and the formation of S-phase and Fe4N, the surface hardness was obviously enhanced. Anodic polarization curves in 3.5 wt. % NaCl solution indicate that the nitrided processes have a tremendous modification effect on anti-corrosion ability. Moreover, the increase of (111) oriented grain, caused by the elevated nitriding temperature, has a positive effect on the corrosion resistance.