Improvement of the Tribological Characteristics of AISI 8620, 8640 and 52100 Steels through Thermo-Reactive Treatments

The production of vanadium and niobium carbides (VC and NbC) layers on AISI 8620, 8640, and 52100 steels may increase hardness and wear resistance of substrates. Thermochemical treatments were performed at 1000 °C for 2 and 4 h. The characterization of the treated samples was carried out by means of Knoop microhardness tests, “calotest” type microadhesive wear test, layer adhesion test according to VDI 3198 standard, and X-ray diffraction. Compact and uniform layers of VC and NbC were obtained in all treatments, with hardness up to 2500 HK and microadhesive wear resistance far superior to that of the substrates, indicating the great efficiency of these treatments for tribological applications.