Effect of plasma nitriding process on wear resistance of AISI 8620 steel

AISI 8620 cementation steels are used in the manufacture of many machine elements and are subject to friction and wear damage under service conditions. Plasma nitriding method which is one of the modern surface hardening methods, is an important option in preventing or minimizing this type of damage. In this study, depending on the applicability of plasma nitriding method and the processing conditions in AISI 8620 steel, the micro and macro scale structure and tribological properties that occur on the material surface were experimentally investigated. In experimental studies, plasma nitriding treatment was applied to quenched cementation steels and without heat treatment steels at different temperatures and processing times in a constant gas atmosphere. At the end of the experiments, the microstructures of the samples were examined in SEM and optical microscopes, x-ray analysis (XRD), microhardness and surface roughness measurements were made. Wear tests were carried out with the ball-on-disk method and the friction force and wear resistance of the samples were determined. The thesis is organized in six chapters. In the first chapter of this study, the ssubject was introduced. In the second chapter, the place in the literatüre of study was investigated and some novel studies were given concerning this subject. In the third chapter, the general information is given about plasma nitriding, tribology, wear failures and failure mechanisms. In the fourth chapter, the method of experimental study and the preparation phases to experiments were presented. In the fifth chapter, experimental results were given and discussed. In the sixth and final chapter, general results and recommendations were given