Effect of the powder particle size on the wear behavior of boronized AISI 304 stainless steel

In this study, the AISI 304 steel specimens were boronized with nanoboron of the size of 10 50 nm and commercial Ekabor 3 powders (<1400 μm) at 950 C to 1000 C for 2 h and 4 h. Boronized steel specimens were characterized via SEM, microhardness and XRD analyses. Abrasive wear behavior of the specimens, boronized at different temperatures and treatment durations, were examined. The fixed ball micro-abrasion tests were carried out using the abrasive slurry, prepared with different SiC powder particle sizes on the boronized specimens at different rotational speeds. The specimens boronized with nanoboron powders exhibited a higher hardness and abrasive wear resistance than the samples boronized with the Ekabor 3 powders.