Effect of nitrocarburizing and argon admixing to SS 304 material for radioactive liquid waste storage facility in radiometallurgical installation

Stainless steel is an important component in the industrialized world with rising growth in world consumption. It has strong, durable, and economically valuable materials. One of the stainless-steel applications is for nuclear power plant facilities. In Indonesian nuclear industry, stainless steel is not only used for component in purpose reactor but also radiometallurgical facility. The component should be improved for its lifetime to minimize failure. One of the methods that can be used is surface hardening through nitrocarburizing. Where in this method would form compound layer which are ε-Fe2-3 (N, C) 1-z and γ-Fe4N1-x. This study used some different variables, which used different gas ratio dan temperature. The gas diffused with ratio 10% C2H2, 50% argon, and 40% nitrogen. The results show that there is an increase in hardness value, by addition of argon gas up to 50% in the nitrocarburizing process, making the sample harder, the hardness increase was obtained based on the temperature difference used, which increase 1.8-2 times from the initial hardness value. When compared with previous studies, the maximum addition of argon is in the range of 10-30% because it provides a more optimal increase in hardness.