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Growth Kinetics of the Fe2B Layers and Adhesion on Armco Iron Substrate

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Abstract

In this work, a kinetic model was suggested to evaluate the boron diffusion coefficient in the Fe2B layers grown on the Armco iron substrate by the powder-pack boriding. This thermochemical treatment was carried out in the temperature range of 1123-1273 K for treatment times ranging from 2 to 8 h. The boron diffusion coefficient in the Fe2B layers was estimated by solving the mass balance equation at the (Fe2B/substrate) interface with an inclusion of boride incubation time. To validate the present model, the simulated value of Fe2B layer thickness was compared with the experimental value obtained at 1253 K for a treatment time of 5 h. The morphology of Fe2B layers was observed by SEM and optical microscopy. Metallographic studies showed that the boride layer has a saw-tooth morphology in all the samples. The layer thickness measurements were done with the help of MSQ PLUS software. The Fe2B phase was identified by x-ray diffraction method. Finally, the adherence of Fe2B layers on the Armco iron substrate was qualitatively evaluated by using the Daimler-Benz Rockwell-C indentation technique. In addition, the estimated value of boron activation energy was compared to the literature data.

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Abbreviations

\(v\) :

Boride layer thickness (m)

\(t_{\text{v}}\) :

is the effective growth time of the Fe2B layer (s)

t :

is the treatment time (s)

\(t_{0}^{{{\text{Fe}}_{ 2} {\text{B}}}}\) :

is the boride incubation time (s)

\(Q_{{{\text{Fe}}_{ 2} {\text{B}}}}\) :

the boron activation energy (J/mol)

\(C_{\text{up}}^{{{\text{Fe}}_{ 2} {\text{B}}}}\) :

represents the upper limit of boron content in Fe2B (=60 × 103 mol/m3)

\(C_{\text{low}}^{{{\text{Fe}}_{ 2} {\text{B}}}}\) :

is the lower limit of boron content in Fe2B(=59.8 × 103 mol/m3)

\(C_{\text{ads}}^{\text{B}}\) :

is the adsorbed boron concentration in the boride layer (mol/m3)

\(a_{1} = C_{\text{up}}^{{{\text{Fe}}_{ 2} {\text{B}}}} - C_{\text{low}}^{{{\text{Fe}}_{ 2} {\text{B}}}}\) :

defines the homogeneity range of the Fe2B layer (mol/m3)

\(a_{2} = C_{\text{low}}^{{{\text{Fe}}_{ 2} {\text{B}}}} - C_{0}\) :

is the miscibility gap (mol/m3)

C 0 :

is the terminal solubility of the interstitial solute (\(\approx 0 {\text{ mol/m}}^{3}\))

\(C_{{{\text{Fe}}_{ 2} {\text{B}}}} [x{\kern 1pt} (t)]\) :

is the boron concentration profile in the Fe2B layer (mol/m3)

\(v_{0}\) :

indicates the initial Fe2B layer (m)

ɛ:

is the normalized growth parameter for the (Fe2B/substrate) interface (it has no physical dimensions)

\(D_{{{\text{Fe}}_{ 2} {\text{B}}}}\) :

denotes the diffusion coefficient of boron in the Fe2B phase (m2/s)

\(J_{i} [x(t)],{\text{ (with }}i = {\text{Fe}}_{ 2} {\text{B and Fe)}}\) :

are the fluxes of boron atoms in the (Fe2B/substrate) interface boundary (mol/m2/s)

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Acknowledgments

The work described in this paper was supported by a grant of CONACyT and PROMEP México. Also, the authors want to thank to Ing. Martín Ortiz Granillo, who is in charge as Director of the Escuela Superior de Ciudad Sahagún which belongs to the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, México, for all the facilities to accomplish this research work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey-ITESM Campus Santa Fe, Av. Carlos Lazo No. 100, Del. Álvaro Obregón, 01389, Mexico, DF, Mexico

    M. Elias-Espinosa

  2. Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Campus Sahagún, Carretera Cd. Sahagún-Otumba s/n, Pachuca de Soto, Hidalgo, Mexico

    M. Ortiz-Domínguez & J. Zuno-Silva

  3. Laboratoire de Technologie des Matériaux, Faculté de GénieMécanique et Génie des Procédés, USTHB, B.P. No. 32, El-Alia, Bab-Ezzouar, 16111, Algiers, Algeria

    M. Keddam

  4. Universidad Politécnica de Pachuca-UPP, Carretera Pachuca-Cd. Sahagún km. 20, Ex Hacienda de Santa Bárbara, 43830, Zempoala, Hidalgo, Mexico

    M. A. Flores-Rentería

  5. Instituto de Investigación en Materiales, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México-UNAM, Circuito Exterior, s/n Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán, 04510, Mexico, DF, Mexico

    O. Damián-Mejía

  6. Centro de Investigaciones en Materiales y Metalurgia, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Ciudad Universitaria Pachuca-Tulancingo km. 4.5, Pachuca, Hidalgo, Mexico

    J. Hernández-Ávila, E. Cardoso-Legorreta & A. Arenas-Flores

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  1. M. Elias-Espinosa
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Correspondence to M. Keddam.

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Elias-Espinosa, M., Ortiz-Domínguez, M., Keddam, M. et al. Growth Kinetics of the Fe2B Layers and Adhesion on Armco Iron Substrate. J. of Materi Eng and Perform 23, 2943–2952 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-014-1052-2

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