An electrochemical corrosion study of microwave pack borided p20 steel

AISI P20 steel is widely used in plastic mold supporting parts, metal injection mold supports with high workability, in high polish able extruder barrel and in many applications. Therefore, the steel is exposed to wear and corrosion where it is used. To reduce this damage is done encountered many surface hardening process. In this study, box boriding procedure in the microwave oven is conducted on AISI P20 steel that is suitable for boron coating at 800, 850 and at 900 C for 2, 4 and 6 hours. At the end of the experiments, the morphology of the resulting boride layer on the steel surface was examined by optical microscopy. Hardness values were measured with a micro-hardness tester, and the phases which is formed on the substrate is determined by the XRD method. Electrochemical corrosion tests were performed in 1M NaCl solution for 1 hour waiting time. As a result of boriding, the boride layer has been found to consist of FeB, Fe2B, CrB and the MnB phases. The thickness of the boride layer obtained in specimen treated in the microwave oven was found to increase with increasing boriding temperature and boriding temperature. The hardness values in the microwave oven box borided specimens have also increased. At the end of the electrochemical corrosion tests, the corrosion resistance of sample was coated with Boron is improved. Corrosion behavior was found to be changing with boriding temperature and time.