Wear 269 (2010) 466–472

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Wear
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/wear

Wear mechanisms and microstructure of pulsed plasma nitrided AISI H13 tool
steel
M.V. Leite a , C.A. Figueroa b,e,∗ , S. Corujeira Gallo e , A.C. Rovani b , R.L.O. Basso b ,
P.R. Mei d , I.J.R. Baumvol b,c , A. Sinatora a
a
Laboratório de Fenômenos de Superfície da Escola Politécnica da Universidade de São Paulo, 05508-900, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
b
Centro de Ciências Exatas e Tecnologia, Universidade de Caxias do Sul, 95070-560, Caxias do Sul, RS, Brazil
c
Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, 91501-970, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
d
Departamento de Engenharia de Materiais da Faculdade de Engenharia Mecânica da Universidade Estadual de Campinas, 13083-970, Campinas, SP, Brazil
e
Plasmar Tecnologia Ltda., 95076-420, Caxias do Sul, RS, Brazil

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: AISI H13 tool steel discs were pulsed plasma nitrided during different times at a constant temperature
Received 26 September 2009 of 400 ◦ C. Wear tests were performed in order to study the acting wear mechanisms. The samples were
Received in revised form 27 April 2010 characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and hardness measurements. The results
Accepted 30 April 2010
showed that longer nitriding times reduce the wear volumes. The friction coefficient was 0.20 ± 0.05 for all
Available online 8 May 2010
tested conditions and depends strongly on the presence of debris. After wear tests, the wear tracks were
characterized by optical and scanning electron microscopy and the wear mechanisms were observed
Keywords:
to change from low cycle fatigue or plastic shakedown to long cycle fatigue. These mechanisms were
Sliding wear
Diffusion treatments
correlated to the microstructure and hardness of the nitrided layer.
Sliding friction © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Plasma nitriding is an established technology for surface mod-
ification of metal alloys [1]. When compared to conventional gas
and liquid nitriding, plasma nitriding represents a more versatile
technique due to the optimized metallurgical control of the struc-
ture and crystalline phases which constitute the nitrided layer [2,3].
Generally, these treatments improve the surface mechanical prop-
erties of the material such as hardness, wear resistance, fatigue,
friction [4].
AISI H13 tool steel is an important ferrous alloy for forging and
aluminum injection. Usually, thermo-chemical surface treatments
such as plasma nitriding are applied in order to increase the life-
time of tools and dies [5]. From a structural point of view and
in the case of AISI H13 pulsed plasma nitriding, the iron nitride
phases are similar to those existing in plain carbon steels. How-
ever, the alloy elements precipitates, such as chromium, vanadium
and molybdenum nitrides contribute to the hardening of the mate-
rial at temperatures higher than 450 ◦ C [6]. On the contrary, plasma
nitriding treatments at low temperatures (400 ◦ C) allow to main-
∗ Corresponding author at: Centro de Ciências Exatas e Tecnologia, Universidade
de Caxias do Sul, 95070-560, Caxias do Sul, RS, Brazil. Tel.: +55 54 3218 2764;
fax: +55 54 3218 2253.
E-mail address: cafiguer@ucs.br (C.A. Figueroa).
tain the nano and microstructure on surface and bulk of metallic
carbides obtained by the previous heat treatment [7]. Moreover,
thinner nitrided layers are specified for duplex processes such as
in aluminum injection molds. It is important to remark that lower
temperatures are easily achieved in plasma nitriding keeping a high
nitrogen chemical potential even at 360 ◦ C [8].
The friction and wear behaviors of plasma nitrided AISI H13
may be analyzed in the lights of the in-depth structure and phases
obtained after treatment. On one hand, a compound-free diffu-
sion layer has a relatively low hardness with a good toughness
and supports a high dynamical force [9]. On the other hand, the
compound layer presents a relatively high hardness where the
␧-Fe2–3 N phase is brittle [10]. Taking into account the sliding
wear, many mechanisms operate at the same time such as adhe-
sive wear, plastic deformation and delamination, abrasive wear
by debris dissemination, long cycle fatigue crack formation and
oxidative wear. Previous works have shown that the wear rate
depends on hardness, toughness and thickness of the nitrided
layer [11,12]. However, all works about wear behavior of plasma
nitrided AISI H13 were performed at temperatures higher than
500 ◦ C.
In this work, we investigate the friction and wear mechanisms
of AISI H13 tool steel pulsed plasma nitrided during several dif-
ferent times at low temperature (400 ◦ C). The microstructure and
morphology of the nitrided layer were characterized by different
methods, aiming at correlating the tribological properties with the

0043-1648/$ – see front matter © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.wear.2010.04.037
 M.V. Leite et al. / Wear 269 (2010) 466–472 467

Fig. 1. (a) Sketch of the sample geometry (length and diameters in mm). (b) Sketch of a running wear test. The felt polishing wheel (cleaning device) is also shown.

nitrided layer thickness and crystalline structure as well as the samples with Nital 2% (2% (v/v) nitric acid in absolute ethanol). The
hardness profile. cross-section morphology and the thickness of the nitrided layers
were analyzed using a Shimadzu SSX-550 scanning electron micro-
scope equipped with energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS). The
2. Experimental procedure phases were established by X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) using
a Shimadzu diffractometer (XRD-6000). The X-ray diffractograms
Commercial AISI H13 tool steel samples of composition 90.6Fe, were obtained at room temperature using a copper tube source
0.5C, 0.4Mn, 1.0Si, 5.1Cr, 1.4Mo, 0.9V (wt.%) were used for the in the Bragg-Brentano geometry with monochromatized radiation
experiments. The samples were quenched from 1030 ◦ C and dou- (Cu K␣,  = 0.15418 nm), scanning steps of 0.02◦ and 5 s counting
ble tempered at 580 ◦ C for 2 h each cycle. This material tempering step time between 30◦ and 80◦ (2). The hardness measurements
temperature guarantees no phase structure changes at working were performed in a Fischerscope HM2000 XYp.
temperatures below 510 ◦ C. The bulk hardness after heat treat-
ment was 570 ± 6 HV0.1 . The sample geometry is shown in Fig. 1a.
3. Results
Before pulsed plasma nitriding, the samples were mirror polished
with diamond abrasive powder (1 ␮m) and ultrasonically cleaned
3.1. Wear behavior
in alcohol. The processes were performed in a commercial hot-
wall fully automatic pulsed plasma nitriding system, 120 A/1000 V
The wear behavior was investigated by measuring the mass
of maximum capacity. The plasma was generated by a pulsed dc
loss and by observing the morphology of the wear track (material
power supply operating at 7.1 A and 380 V with a duty cycle of
damage). On one hand, the maximum mass loss, 2.2 ± 0.5 mg (the
0.25 (pulse on: 50 ␮s and pulse off: 150 ␮s) for all samples. Dur-
other measurements were near the equipment detection limit),
ing the process, an 80% H2 –20% N2 gas mixture was used at 400 Pa
indicates that the wear mechanisms act, basically, by damaging
fixed total pressure. Before nitriding and during the heating up to
instead of by material loss. On the other hand, the morphol-
treatment temperature, the samples were ion bombarded for 4 h in
plasma constituted by 80% Ar–20% H2 , for cleaning purposes. The
studied samples were treated at process times from 4 to 36 h and
constant temperature of 400 ◦ C. After the treatment, the samples
were cooled down slowly (∼6 h) inside the vacuum chamber.
The sliding wear tests were performed in a ball-on-disc machine
Plint (model TE67). The sliding conditions are summarized in
Fig. 1b. The nitrided sample (disc) turned in anti-clockwise motion
at 40 rpm in contact with a Si3 N4 ball (diameter = 7.14 mm) under a
normal force of 800 N, produce a contact stress of 3.45 GPa. The slid-
ing was performed during 8 h and the sliding distance was 1440 m
at a rate of 0.05 m s−1 . Every 1 h of sliding, the mass was measured
and a topographic profile of the wear track region was taken (pro-
filometer Kosaka® , model 1700␣). The wear tests were performed
at a temperature of 25 ± 5 ◦ C and a relative humidity of 50 ± 10%.
In order to remove debris from the wear track, a cleaning device
was mounted. This system is a felt polishing wheel that rotates at
2000 rpm.
The treated samples were sliced and mounted in bakelite and
mirror polished (0.05 ␮m) with colloidal silica suspension. The
nitride layers were revealed, at room temperature, by etching the Fig. 2. Typical topographic profile of the wear track after sliding wear tests.
468 M.V. Leite et al. / Wear 269 (2010) 466–472
Fig. 3. Volume removed by wear versus the sliding distance for different nitriding
times. The dashed lines are only guide lines.
ogy of the wear track introduces new evidences about the wear
behavior.
Fig. 2 shows a typical topographic profile of a wear track in
our samples. It can be seen that the material is damaged by the
formation of a valley (plowing) between two peaks (pile-up). By
analyzing all topographic profiles (wear tracks), we could deter-
mine the removed volume from the original surface (plowing),
defined as AV , and the pile-up volume (dislocated material), defined
as A1 and A2 (see Fig. 2 for AV , A1 , and A2 appearing on a typical wear
track).
Fig. 3 shows the removed volume as a function of the sliding
distance for different nitriding times. One can see that the removed
volume increases as a function of the sliding distance for all treat-
ment conditions, whereas this trend decreases with the nitriding
time. Fig. 4 shows material pile-up at the edges of the wear groove
as a function of the sliding distance at different nitriding times.
Here, while the pile-up volume increases as a function of the slid-
ing distance for the first two nitriding times (4 and 9 h), the last
two treatment conditions (16 and 36 h) show a plateau for longer
sliding distances.
By looking at Figs. 3 and 4, it is straightforward to determine
the running-in regime due to the volume gap, defined as a sud-
den increment of the removed and pile-up volumes, from zero
to 180 m of sliding distance in most of cases (360 m for 36 h and
Fig. 4. Pile-up volume versus the sliding distance for different nitriding times. The
dashed lines are only guide lines.
Fig. 5. Oscillatory behavior of the friction coefficient under the action of the cleaning
device.
540 m for 16 h). After these points, the wear condition changes to
a steady state regime. Moreover, the plateaus observed in Fig. 4,
where the pile-up volume formation stops, indicate that only long
cycle fatigue wear acts on samples nitrided for 16 and 36 h after
540 and 360 m of sliding distance, respectively.
3.2. Friction behavior
The measured friction coefficient defined as  = F/W, where F is
the tangential force to move the upper body over the stationary
counterface and W is the normal load, was 0.20 ± 0.05. This value
depends strongly on the surface cleaning state (tribological film). In
order to study this behavior, a cleaning device was switched on and
off periodically during the wear tests. Fig. 5 shows the oscillatory
change of the friction coefficient as a function of the sliding time for
the samples treated during 9 h. One can see that when the cleaning
device is switched on or off, the friction coefficient impasses by a
maximum or by a minimum, respectively. It is important to remark
that the same behavior is observed in all samples.
3.3. Structural and morphological aspects before tribological tests
Fig. 6a–d shows the microstructure of plasma nitrided layers for
4, 16, and 36 h, in cross-section as observed by SEM before tribo-
logical tests, and the crystalline structure for 9 h, respectively. One
can see that the nitrided layer contains fine iron nitrides inside
grains and at grain boundaries. In both processing times, it is not
possible to distinguish a compact compound layer from a prin-
cipal diffusion layer plus needle-like iron nitrides arising in the
nitrided layer (see Fig. 6a and c). Fig. 7 shows that the nitrided layer
thickness follows a distorted parabolic growth law as a function
of nitriding time. The nitrided layer thicknesses were taken from
both SEM images and hardness profiles. At relatively low nitriding
temperatures the most important diffusion mechanism is by grain
boundary. Consequently, all nitrided layer thicknesses are shifted
to higher values. This mechanism is the fastest way for nitrogen
diffusion in our experimental treatment conditions. Table 1 shows
a summary of crystalline phases and nitrided layer thickness for
different nitriding times (T = 400 ◦ C).
Fig. 8 shows the hardness behavior as a function of depth, for dif-
ferent nitriding times. It is seen that higher nitriding times increase
the hardness, both in depth and near the surface. Some discrep-
ancies between nitrided layer thicknesses taken from SEM and
hardness profiles are due to low accuracy in direct observation of
SEM images where the nitrided layer thickness is generally under-
estimated. In the case of nitrided layer thickness from hardness
profiles, the effective case depth was determined by considering
the hardness value above 10% of core hardness.
 M.V. Leite et al. / Wear 269 (2010) 466–472 469

Fig. 6. Scanning electron microscopy cross-section images of the nitrided layer for three different nitriding times: 9 h (a), 16 h (b), and 36 h (c). X-ray diffractograms of
untreated and 4 h treated samples (d).

Fig. 7. Nitrided layer thicknesses taken from SEM and hardness profiles versus Fig. 8. Hardness profile for different nitriding times at a constant nitriding temper-
nitriding time at a constant nitriding temperature of 400 ◦ C. The dashed lines are ature of 400 ◦ C. The dashed lines are only guide lines.
only guide lines.

4. Discussion: wear versus microstructure
Table 2 shows an important analysis tool, the cutting efficiency
parameter Fab = [AV − (A1 + A2 )]/AV . According to this parameter, in
ideal cutting there is no pile-up volume and in ideal plowing the
whole material is dislocated to the pile-up volume. Fab increases
monotonously here from lower to higher nitriding times (see
Table 2). Consequently, the wear is governed by 36% microplow-
ing and 64% microcutting at the lowest nitriding time and even
toward 80% microcutting at the highest nitriding time.
Fig. 9 shows optical (a, c, e, g on surface) and scanning electron (b,
d, f, h in cross-section) microscopy images of the wear track at dif-
ferent treatment times. The material only quenched and tempered
shows a classical metallic behavior under a normal pressure where
plastic deformation moves dislocations and refines grain (see the
wear track on the left side of Fig. 9b). Consequently, microcutting in
470 M.V. Leite et al. / Wear 269 (2010) 466–472

Table 1
Summary of crystalline phases and nitrided layer thickness obtained as a function of nitriding time.

Nitriding time (h) Phases up to 5 ␮m Nitrided layer thickness (␮m) (from SEM) Nitrided layer thickness (␮m) (from hardness)

4 +␧-Fe2–3 N, −␣-Fe(N) 36 54
9 +␧-Fe2–3 N, −␥ -Fe4 N 44 62
16 +␧-Fe2–3 N, −␥ -Fe4 N 50 72
36 +␧-Fe2–3 N, −␥ -Fe4 N 67 106

Fig. 9. Morphology of the worn surfaces for different nitriding times. On surface and in cross-section images were obtained by optical (left) and scanning (right) electron
microscopy, respectively: (a and b) quenched and tempered, (c and d) 4 h, (e and f) 9 h, and (g and h) 36 h.
 M.V. Leite et al. / Wear 269 (2010) 466–472
Table 2
The cutting efficiency parameter (Fab ) calculated at different nitriding times and sliding distances. The quenched and tempered (Q&T) sample is also included.
Fab 180 m 360 m 540 m 720 m
4h 0.60 0.68 0.65 0.65
9h 0.67 0.65 0.73 0.65
16 h 0.69 0.66 0.59 0.67
36 h 0.80 0.70 0.75 0.75
Q&T 0.55
Fig. 10. Wear coefficients for all treatment conditions.
the sliding direction is observed (see Fig. 9a). The material nitrided
during 4 h shows microcutting, arc-shaped fractures, and delami-
nation on the surface (see Fig. 9c) and parallel and transversal (up
to 45◦ ) cracks in the cross-section (see Fig. 9d). For higher nitriding
times (9 h), besides microcutting and arc-shaped fractures on the
surface (see Fig. 9e), transversal cracks between 45◦ and 90◦ are
observed in the cross-section (see Fig. 9f). For the longest nitrid-
ing time (36 h), longer cracks perpendicular to the surface (90◦ )
appear in the cross-section (see Fig. 9h), leading to fewer but larger
delaminated areas observed on the surface (see Fig. 9g).
In the steady state regime, the removed volume shows quite
a linear behavior as a function of the sliding distance. Taking into
account that there are two types of wear operating, i.e., low cycle
fatigue wear or plastic shakedown (4 and 9 h of nitriding time) and
long cycle fatigue wear (16 and 36 h), the obtained global linear
relationship is not a coincidence since each one follows a linear
behavior between mass loss, hardness and layer thickness [13].
In order to quantify the wear resistance, the dimensional wear
coefficient (k) is usually used. This coefficient represents the vol-
ume of removed material in mm3 per sliding distance in m and
normal load in N [5]. Fig. 10 shows the dimensional wear coeffi-
cient for different nitriding times. According to the bibliography,
for sliding values with cyclic loading, a k value between 10−6 and
10−5 represents mild wear [5]. When compared to sliding wear in
nitrided AISI 410 martensitic stainless steel, our k values are appre-
ciably lower [14]. Therefore and in our system, the value of the
coefficient k does not represent the severity of wear.
By analyzing the removed and pile-up volumes, as well as the
microstructure and hardness profiles, one can identify two different
behaviors. For samples nitrided for 4 and 9 h, the running-in regime
is essentially by abrasion (due to debris) and plastic deformation.
The material is removed from the wear track by microcutting and
microplowing, with a cutting efficiency of 50%. In the steady state
regime, although the abrasive wear still operates, the removed and
pile-up volumes decrease and the action of plastic deformation and
delamination become important.
471
900 m 1080 m 1260 m 1440 m Mean value
0.66 0.64 0.59 0.61 0.64
0.61 0.67 0.69 0.66 0.67
0.64 0.72 0.72 0.72 0.68
0.77 0.83 0.83 0.79 0.78
0.55 0.55
The created debris by microcutting and spalling are the particles
that control the changes in the friction coefficient [15]. Although,
previous works [16] have shown that nitrided materials reduce
the friction coefficient, in our experiments, the friction coefficients
may rise up to approximately 1.4 without any cleaning. Moreover,
high friction coefficients have already been reported for nitrided
materials in similar sliding conditions [17].
For samples nitrided for 16 and 36 h, the running-in regime is
also by abrasion. Similar to shorter nitriding times, the removal
takes place by microcutting and microplowing. However, the cut-
ting efficiency increases up to 80%, indicating mainly a microcutting
mechanism instead of microplowing. In the steady state regime, the
type of wear is dominated by long cycle fatigue and brittle fracture
propagation. The arc-shaped fractures and spalling (see Fig. 9e) are
in agreement with brittle fracture. It is important to remark that
arc-shaped fractures depend strongly on the nitrided layer thick-
ness. Thinner and intermediate nitrided layer thicknesses induce
transversal cracks which are responsible to generate arc-shaped
fractures due to a sudden decrease in the hardness profile (see
Fig. 9d and f). Thicker nitrided layers significantly reduce the num-
ber of cracks, which become perpendicular to the surface avoiding
the formation of arc-shaped fractures (see Fig. 9h). Despite brittle
fracture mechanisms acting on material removal, the hardness pro-
file controls the removed volume and longer nitriding times (i.e.,
thicker and harder nitrided layers) decrease the removed volume.
The same behavior is observed in several nitrided steels where a
hard ceramic layer, or in other words a compound layer based on
␥-Fe4 N and ␧-Fe2–3 N decreases the material removal even by the
action of brittle fracture mechanisms [18,19]. In fact, iron nitrides
like ␥-Fe4 N and ␧-Fe2–3 N are interstitial compounds that have an
important ceramic characteristic with high hardness and brittle
behavior (brittle fracture) [20].
5. Conclusions
AISI H13 hot tool steel samples were pulsed plasma nitrided for
different treatment times at a constant temperature. After that, the
treated samples were characterized by tribological tests such as
sliding wear and friction and physicochemical tests such as XRD,
SEM, and mechanical indentations.
(1) The sliding wear tests indicate the action of different wear
mechanisms such as delamination, abrasive wear and long cycle
fatigue wear. The running-in and steady state regimes are iden-
tified for all wear tests. For samples nitrided for 4 and 9 h, plastic
shakedown and delamination occur respectively, while abra-
sive wear acts in both regimes. For samples nitrided for 16 and
36 h, the running-in regime is controlled by abrasive wear and
the steady state regime by long cycle fatigue wear. The wear
mechanisms can be correlated to the structural properties.
(2) The friction coefficient is 0.20 ± 0.05 for all tested conditions
and depends strongly on the presence of debris (tribological
film).
(3) The nitrided layer thickness follows a distorted parabolic
growth law due to the role of nitrogen grain boundary diffusion
at low temperatures. The nitrided layer is formed, basically, by
472 M.V. Leite et al. / Wear 269 (2010) 466–472
␧-Fe2–3 N. The higher the hardness (on surface and in depth) the
lower the removed material volume.
(4) The incorporation of nitrogen transforms metallic-like wear
mechanism (plastic deformation for pile-up volume forma-
tion) in ceramic-like wear mechanism (arc-shaped fracture and
spalling) due to the ceramic characteristic of ␧-Fe2–3 N.
Acknowledgements
This work was partially sponsored by CNPq, projects #
142812/2006-4, # 550316/2007-8, and # 573628/2008-4 (INCT).
The authors are indebted to F. Alvarez for helping with sample
preparation at LIITS-IFGW-UNICMP (Campinas, SP, Brazil). AS, CAF,
IJRB, and PRM are CNPq fellows.
References
[1] E.A. Ochoa, D. Wisnivesky, I. Minea, M. Ganciu, C. Tauziede, P. Chapon, F. Alvarez,
Microstructure and properties of the compound layer obtained by pulsed
plasma nitriding in steel gears, Surf. Coat. Technol. 203 (2009) 1457–1461.
[2] J. Walkowicz, P. Supiot, J. Smolik, M. Grushin, The influence of the N-2-H-2
mixture composition on the spectroscopic and temporal behaviour of glow dis-
charge characteristics in pulse-supplied nitriding processes, Surf. Coat. Technol.
180 (2004) 407–412.
[3] E.A. Ochoa, C.A. Figueroa, F. Alvarez, The influence of the ion current density on
plasma nitriding process, Surf. Coat. Technol. 200 (2005) 2165–2169.
[4] J. Wang, J. Xiong, Q. Peng, H. Fan, Y. Wang, G. Li, B. Shen, Effects of DC plasma
nitriding parameters on microstructure and properties of 304L stainless steel,
Mater. Charact. 60 (2009) 197–203.
[5] M. Uma Devi, T.K. Chakraborty, O.N. Mohanty, Wear behaviour of plasma
nitrided tool steels, Wear 116–119 (1999) 212–221.
[6] L.F. Zagonel, C.A. Figueroa, R. Droppa Jr., F. Alvarez, Influence of the process tem-
perature on the steel microstructure and hardening in pulsed plasma nitriding,
Surf. Coat. Technol. 201 (2006) 452–457.
[7] L.F. Zagonel, R.L.O. Basso, F. Alvarez, Precipitates temperature dependence
in ion beam nitrided AISI H13 tool steel, Plasma Process. Polym. 4 (2007)
S736–S740.
[8] E.A. Ochoa, C.A. Figueroa, Influence of the microstructure on steel hardening in
pulsed plasma nitriding, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 26 (2008) 328–332.
[9] L. Demchenko, S. Sidorenko, V. Tinyaev, The effect of deformation on structure
and properties of surface diffusion layers formed in iron alloys under alloying
by nitrogen and carbon, Diffus. Segreg. Stresses Mater. 216 (2) (2002) 87–92.
[10] Z. Jin, Examination of plasma nitriding microstructure with addition of rare
earths, J. Rare Earths 22 (2004) 272–276.
[11] G. Castro, A. Fernández-Vicente, J. Cid, Influence of the nitriding time in the
wear behaviour of an AISI H13 steel during a crankshaft forging process, Wear
263 (2007) 1375–1385.
[12] M.B. Karamiş, An investigation of the properties and wear behaviour of plasma-
nitrided hot-working steel (H13), Wear 150 (1991) 331–342.
[13] J.F. Archard, Contact and rubbing of flat surfaces, Appl. Phys. 24 (1953) 981–
988.
[14] P. Corengia, F. Walther, G. Ybarra, S. Sommadossi, R. Corbari, E. Broitman, Fric-
tion and rolling-sliding wear of DC-pulsed plasma nitrided AISI 410 martensitic
stainless steel, Wear 260 (2006) 479–485.
[15] D.H. Hwang, D.E. Kim, S.J. Lee, Influence of wear particle interaction in the
sliding interface on friction of metals, Wear 225 (1999) 427–439.
[16] American Society for Metals, Friction, lubrication and wear technology Metals
Handbook, vol. 18, American Society for Metals, 1992, 942 pp.
[17] S. Karaoğlu, Structural characterization and wear behavior of plasma-nitrided
AISI 5140 low-alloy steel, Mater. Charact. 49 (2003) 349–357.
[18] K.S. Al-Rubaie, F. Steinmeier, M. Pohl, Two-body abrasion of nitrocarburised
steels for hydraulic cylinders, Wear 243 (2000) 112–121.
[19] M.B. Karamiş, E. Gerçekcioğlu, Wear behaviour of plasma nitrided steels at
ambient and elevated temperatures, Wear 243 (2000) 76–84.
[20] A. Alsaran, I. Kaymaz, A. Çelik, F. Yetim, M. Karakan, A repair process for fatigue
damage using plasma nitriding, Surf. Coat. Technol. 186 (2004) 333–338.