A study of the corrosion properties of plasma nitrocarburized and oxidized AISI 1020 steels

Plasma nitrocarburized AISI 1020 steels were oxidized for 15, 30 and 60 min to evaluate their corrosion and microstructural properties. After plasma nitrocarburizing for 3 h at 570°C in a gas mixture comprising 85 vol.% N2, 12vol.% H2 and 3 vol.% CH4, the compound layer composed of ɛ-Fe2–3(N,C) and γ’-Fe4(N,C) phases and the diffusion layer above the matrix were observed. The top oxide layer, consisting mainly of magnetite (Fe2O4) and hematite (Fe2O3) phases, forms after post-oxidation treatment at 500°C. However, the oxide layer was severely degraded by spallation as a result of increases in post-oxidizing time. The difference in corrosion resistance should be attributed to the thickness of the top oxide layer, which was governed by post-oxidizing time.