Nascimento, Fabiana CristinaFoerster, Carlos EugênioSilva, Silvio Luiz Rutz daLepienski, Carlos MauricioSiqueira, Carlos José de MesquitaAlves Júnior, Clodomiro2014-04-232014-04-232009-04-17Materials Research, Vol. 12, No. 2, 173-180, 20091516-1439https://repositorio.ufrn.br/jspui/handle/1/11806Mechanical and tribological properties of AISI 304 and AISI 316 stainless steels submitted to glow discharge ion nitriding are reported. The atmosphere was 20:80 - N2:H2 with substrate temperatures ranging from 300 to 500 °C. Treatment at 300 °C produced expanded austenite (γN) in both steels. Increasing the temperature, the phases γ′-Fe4N and ε- Fe2+xN were present and the latter is the major phase for AISI 304. At 500 °C, the CrN phase was also identified in both steels. Hardnesses of about 13-14 GPa at near surface regions were obtained in both steels. Moreover, AISI 316 nitrided at 500 °C has the deepest hard layer. Tribological tests showed that wear can be reduced by up to a factor of six after the nitriding processes, even for a working temperature of 300 °C. The profiles during and after nanoscratch tests did not reveal significant differences after nitriding processes in both steels.engAcesso Abertoplasma nitridinghardnessmechanical propertiesaustenitic steelsarticle