Effect of Boronizing on Operating Stability of Steel AISI 304L under Erosion Impact of Hard Particles

The effect of solid boronizing at 950°C for 2 and 4 h on the phase composition, microstructure, hardness and abrasive wear of steel AISI 304L is studied under the impact of a flow of hard particles. The boronized steel is shown to consist of three layers (metal boride, porous layer and matrix) from the external surface to the center. The hardness of the boride is much higher than that of the matrix phase. The wear resistance of the steel is the highest after the 2-h boronizing, and the wear depends on the angle of impact of the hard particles on its surface. With growth of the duration of the boronizing the wear behavior of the steel changes from ductile one to brittle one.