The formation of a tungsten containing surface layer in a carbon steel by compression plasma flow

Morphology, phase and elemental composition of a carbon steel surface layer after treatment by compression plasma flows containing a dispersed tungsten powder have been investigated in this work. The action of relatively short (∼ 120 μs) and intense (15–20 J/cm 2 per pulse) plasma pulses resulted in the formation of tungsten containing thin film consisting of clusters with the size of 100–200 nm. Besides, the film formation treatment with a few pulses allowed to alloy a surface steel layer with tungsten. This treatment also led to the formation of Fe 3W 3C and WC carbides in the surface layer.