Influence of Medium Used during Ferritic Nitro-Carburizing of AISI H-13 Hot Work Tool Steel

Ferritic nitro-carburizing is one of the most popular surface hardening methods used to improve lifespan of hot work tool steels.Different types of mediums like gas,liquid,plasma and fluidized bed are generally used during ferritic nitro-carburizing process.In this paper,various ferritic nitro-carburizing methods were compared where gas,salt bath and fluidized are used as mediums.AISI H-13 hot work tool steel specimens were treated by using these different methods of nitro-carburizing and their performance was evaluated by using micro-structural and mechanical analysis.Optical microscopy,micro-hardness testing and X-ray stress analyzer were used for specimen characterization.Moreover,pin on disk dry sliding wear tests were performed to compare wear performance of specimens treated with different nitro-carburizing methods.It is perceived that,medium used during nitro-carburizing has significant influence on the final surface properties that can be achieved by ferritic nitro-carburizing.

Influence of Shot Peening on DIN 1.2714 Hot Work Tool Steel

Shot peening is one of the most popular surface enhancement technique used to improve fatigue performance of different materials. This paper focuses on to study the effect of different shot peening parameters on micro-structural and mechanical properties of DIN 1.2714 tool steel specimens. Shot peening treatments were carried out by varying shot size and peening intensity. X-ray stress analysis, micro-hardness testing and micro-structural analysis were performed to characterize these specimens. In addition, pin on disk wear testing was executed to recognize wear behavior of this shot peened tool steels. It was observed that along with compressive residual stress generation, shot peening also induces work hardening effect and modifies surface structure which are responsible for significant improvement in this tool steel.