Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A, Vol.26, No.6, 1407-1414, 2008
Ti surface alloying of an AISI 316L stainless steel by low energy high current pulsed electron beam treatment
Ti has been added into the surface layer of an AISI 316L stainless steel-by means of rapid surface alloying of Ti powder-using the low energy, high current pulsed electron beam (LEHCPEB) technique with the aim of enhancing its corrosion resistance. The alloyed layer contained a mixture of the alpha and gamma phases and its depth increased with the number of pulses. Compared to the samples treated under the conventional LEHCPEB treatment (i.e., without surface alloying), Ti addition improved further the corrosion resistance. This can be attributed to the addition of Ti into the surface layer together with the removal of MnS inclusions. However, the homogeneity of the Ti distribution decreased when the number of pulses increased. Therefore, contrary to the conventional LEHCPEB treatment, as a result of this decreased homogeneity, the corrosion resistance decreased when the number of LEHCPEB was too high. Therefore, a good control of the processing parameters is required to take the full advantage of the surface Ti addition by LEHCPEB.
Keywords:corrosion resistance;electron beam effects;inclusions;stainless steel;surface alloying;titanium