Hardness, tribological behaviour and corrosion performance at the very near surface of nitrogen ion-implanted X5CrNi18.10 steel

Abstract The influence of nitrogen ion implantation on the hardness, tribological behaviour and corrosion performance at the very near surface of polished X5CrNi18.10 steel was studied. The specimens were implanted with 120 keV N + ions to four different fluences ranging from 10 16 to 10 18 ions cm −2 . It was found that hardness, tribological behaviour in terms of wear and friction, and corrosion resistance of the specimens strongly depend on the implantation conditions. The greatest improvement in the surface properties of the steel was achieved at doses between 1 × 10 17 and 5 × 10 17 ions cm −2 . Although hardness, wear resistance and friction behaviour were improved noticeably by the implantation, N ion implantation tended to reduce the corrosion resistance of the specimens in KNO 3 .