Wear and corrosion behaviour of plasma nitrided EN353 steel for automotive application

Plasma nitrating is used in ferrous materials to improve their surface properties of optimal wear performance. The microstructural, mechanical and tribological properties of nitrated EN-353 steel are compared to normal steel, micro hardness and profilometer study to show the comparative results. The tests are performed with the tribology test (pin on disc) wear test machine in which the nitrated pins are fractioned to the hardened steel discs. The material (EN-353) is further compared with the reference of ASTM standards (American society for testing and material). The resulting wear loss and the coefficient of friction is analyzed by the variation of load(5N, 7.5N, 10N) and test time onto the pin on disc machine. Microscopic techniques are used to analyze the wear surface determines the dominant friction and its respective wear characteristics.