Increasing Wear Resistance of Low-Carbon Steel by Anodic Plasma Electrolytic Sulfiding

Abstract

The paper considers the problem of increasing the wear resistance of steel products. For the first time, the technology of anodic plasma electrolytic sulfiding is proposed to increase the wear resistance of low-carbon steel. The composition, structure, and frictional properties of modified surface layers after sulfiding have been studied. The type and mechanism of wear are determined. The influence of the sliding speed of the sample over the counter body on the friction and wear resistance of the samples after processing is analyzed. The possibility of saturation of low-carbon steel with sulfur in an electrolyte with sulfur compounds is shown. The iron sulfide FeS in the surface layer is found. It has been established that the thickness of the sulfide zone and the relative amount of FeS in it have a positive effect on reducing the coefficient of friction and mass wear. The greatest decrease in the friction coefficient by 5.5 times and weight wear by 64 times occurs after sulfiding at 500 °C for 10 min. It was found that the mechanism of wear of sulfided samples is fatigue wear during dry friction and plastic contact.

Keywords

• plasma electrolytic treatment
• steel
• sulfiding
• wear resistance
• friction coefficient