Modification of steel surface by pulsed plasma heating

The possibility of forming a hardened modified layer on the steel surfaces during pulsed-plasma treatment with the use of the electro-axial plasma accelerator is studied in the work. By numerical experiment it was shown that depending on the operational mode of the accelerator the surface can be heated up to temperatures which are close or exceeds the melting point of the steel, while heating and cooling rates reach (3.7...5.5) centre dot 10⁶ K/s. The structure and microhardness of the modified layer formed on the surface of the steel 75 Mn1 without melting under pulse-plasma treatment with a specific heat input of 1.4 centre dot 10⁹ W/m² are described.