• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.103-109
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• 2001

Plasma nitrocarburising and post oxidation were performed on SM45C steel using a plasma nitriding unit. Nitrocarburising was carried out with various methane gas compositions with 4 torr gas pressure at $570^{\circ}C$ for 3 hours and post oxidation was carried out with 100% oxygen gas atmosphere with 4 torr at different temperatures for various times. It was found that the compound layer produced by plasma nitrocarburising consisted of predominantly ${\varepsilon}-Fe_{2-3}(N,C)$ and a small proportion of ${\gamma}-Fe_4(N,C)$. With increasing methane content in the gas mixture, ${\varepsilon}$ phase compound layer was favoured. In addition, when the methane content was further increased, cementite was observed in the compound layer. The very thin oxide layer on top of the compound layer was obtained by post oxidation. The formation of Oxide phase was initially started from the magnetite($Fe_3O_4$) and with increasing oxidation time, the oxide phase was increased. With increasing oxidation temperature, oxide phase was increased. However the oxide layer was split from the compound layer at high temperature. Corrosion resistance was slightly influenced by oxidation times and temperatures.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.16 no.11
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• pp.681-686
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• 2006

Plasma nitrocarburising and plasma post oxidation were performed to improve the wear and corrosion resistance of S45C and SCM440 steel by a plasma ion nitriding system. Plasma nitrocarburizing was conducted for 3h at $570^{\circ}C$ in the nitrogen, hydrogen and methane atmosphere to produce the ${\varepsilon}-Fe_{2-3}$(N, C) phase. Plasma post oxidation was performed on the nitrocarburized samples with various oxygen/hydrogen ratio at constant temperature of $500^{\circ}C$ for 1 hour. The very thin magnetite ($Fe_3O_4$) layer $1-2{\mu}m$ in thickness on top of the $15{\sim}25{\mu}m$ ${\varepsilon}-Fe_{2-3}$(N, C) compound layer was obtained by plasma post oxidation. A salt spray test and electrochemical testing revealed that in the tested 5% NaCl solution, the corrosion characteristics of the nitrocarburized compound layer could be further improved by the application of the superficial magnetite layer. Throttle valve shafts were treated under optimum plasma processing conditions. Accelerated life time test results, using throttle body assembled with shaft treated by plasma nitrocarburising and post oxidation, showed that plasma nitrocarburizing and plasma post oxidation processes could be a viable technology in the very near future which can replace $Cr^{6+}$ plating.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.143-150
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• 2000

Ferritic plasma nitrocarburising was performed on pure iron using a modified DC plasma unit. This investigation was carried out with various gas compositions which consisted of nitrogen, hydrogen and carbon monoxide gases, and various gas pressures for 3 hours at $570^{\circ}C$. After treatment, the different cooling rates(slow cooling and fast cooling) were used to investigate its effect on the structure of the compound layer. The ${\varepsilon}$ phase occupied the outer part of the compound layer and ${\gamma}^{\prime}$ phase existed between the ${\varepsilon}$ phase and the diffusion zone. The gas composition of the atmosphere influenced the constitution of the compound layer produced, i.e. high nitrogen contents were essential for the production of ${\varepsilon}$ phase compound layer. It was found that with increasing carbon content in the gas mixture the compound layer thickness increased up to 10%. In the gas pressure around 3 mbar, the compound layer characteristics were slightly effected by gas pressure. However, in the low gas pressure and high gas pressure, the compound layer characteristics were significantly changed. The constitution of the compound layer was altered by varying the cooling rate. A large amount of ${\gamma}^{\prime}$ phase was transformed from the ${\varepsilon}$ phase during slow cooling.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.265-269
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• 2004

Plasma nitrocarburising and post oxidation were performed on SCM435 steel by a pulsed plasma ion nitriding system. Plasma oxidation resulted in the formation of a very thin ferritic oxide layer 1-2 $\mu\textrm{m}$ thick on top of a 15～25 $\mu\textrm{m}$ $\varepsilon$-F $e_{2-3}$(N,C) nitrocarburized compound layer. The growth rate of oxide layer increased with the treatment temperature and time. However, the oxide layer was easily spalled from the compound layer either for both oxidation temperatures above $450^{\circ}C$, or for oxidation time more than 2 hrs at oxidation temperature $400^{\circ}C$. It was confirmed that the relative amount of $Fe_2$$O_3$, compared with $e_3$$O_4$, increased rapidly with the oxidation temperature. The amounts of ${\gamma}$'-$Fe_4$(N,C) and $\theta$-$Fe_3$C, generated from dissociation from $\varepsilon$-$Fe_{2-3}$ /(N,C) phase during $O_2$ plasma sputtering, were also increased with the oxidation temperature.e.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 1999.10a
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• pp.31-32
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• 1999

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.427-430
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• 2002

Plasma nitrocarburizing treatment was performed for SCM 435 steel by using a plasma ion nitriding system. The effects of the variation of nitrogen and methan contents upon the hardened layer was investigated. Both the thickness of the compound layer and the amount of $\varepsilon$ phase in the compound layer increased with increasing nitrogen content. However, the thickness of the compound layer decreased due to unstable plasma for an atmosphere containing 90% $N_2$ gas content in the gas mixture. The amount of $\varepsilon$phase in the compound layer increased with increasing $CH_4$ gas content. For $CH_4$ gas content more than 2% in the gas mixture, the thickness of the compound layer decreased due to the formation of $\theta$ phase.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.250-253
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• 2007

Plasma nitrocarburizing and plasma oxidizing treatments were performed to improve the wear and corrosion resistance of SKD 11 steel. Plasma nitrocarburizing was conducted for 12 h at $520^{\circ}C$ in the nitrogen, hydrogen and methane atmosphere to produce the $\varepsilon-Fe_{2-3}(N,C)$ phase. It was found that the compound layer produced by plasma nitrocarburising was predominantly composed of $\varepsilon-phase$, with a small proportion of $\gamma'-Fe_4(N,C)$ phase. The thickness of the compound layer was about $5{\mu}m$ and the diffusion layer was about $150{\mu}m$ in thickness, respectively. Plasma post oxidation was performed on the nitrocarburized samples with various oxygen/hydrogen ratio at constant temperature of $500^{\circ}C$ for 1 hour. The very thin magnetite($Fe_3O_4$) layer $1-2{\mu}m$ in thickness on top of the compound layer was obtained by plasma post oxidation. It was confirmed that the corrosion characteristics of the nitrocarburized compound layer could be further improved by the application of the superficial magnetite layer.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.253-259
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• 2003

In this study, to find out the reason of deterioration in surface roughness of steel and cast iron after Tufftride, it has been investigated on the relation between the surface roughness and various factors such as the evolution of compound layer, surface morphology, and surface hardness, and change of pore ratio in the compound layer during Tufftride at $580^{\circ}C$. It is found that the surface roughness was increased with the evolution of compound layer during Tufftride of steel and cast iron. The change of surface roughness after Tufftride was reduced with decreasing tho content of carbon and cementite ($Fe_3C$) in the materials. in the cast irons, the various shaped graphites that was exposed to the surface should induce the discontinuous growth of the compound layer, and this resulted in the incoherent interfaces between matrix and compound layer and the deterioration of surface roughness. In the steels, the existence of cementites in the matrix resulted in the incoherent interfaces between matrix and compound layer. It is considered that during Tufftride the surface roughness must be mainly influenced by the formation of the incoherent interface between compound layer and matrix that is affected by some factors such as the microstructure, the composition, and the hardness of the matrix.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.436-441
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• 2000

Plasma nitrocarburising is a thermochemical heat treatment, and can be used for plain carbon steels and low alloy steels to improve wear, corrosion and fatigue resistance. The process is performed on automotive parts, machinery parts and engineering tools. However, it is still facing problems in obtaining a mono $\varepsilon$ phased compound layer. Therefore, the aim of this research is to investigate the possibility of forming a mono $\varepsilon$ phased compound layer using a gas mixture of nitrogen and methane. It was found that high nitrogen contents were essential for the production of $\varepsilon$ phase compound layer and with increasing methane content in the gas mixture, $\varepsilon$ phase compound layer was favoured. In addition, when the methane content was further increased, cementite was observed in the compound layer. $\gamma$' phase was produced after 10 minutes treatment time and cementite was formed in the compound layer resulting in decreasing the thickness of the compound layer.