INVESTIGATING THE EFFECT OF THE DEEP CRYOGENIC HEAT TREATMENT ON THE CORROSION AND CORROSIVE-WEAR BEHAVIOUR OF THE CARBURISED 16MnCr5 STEEL.

Deep cryogenic heat treatment is a finishing process applied to the vast variety of materials and more specifically on steels. In this investigation the effect of the deep cryogenic heat treatment on the microstructure, corrosion behaviour and corrosive- wear behaviour of the carburised 16MnCr5 steel was studied. Results show that the deep cryogenic heat treatment eliminates the retained austenite as well as increasing the carbide percentage. These phenomena increases the wear rate of the samples as well as declining the corrosion rate of the deep cryogenically treated samples (DCT) due to decreasing the dissolved chromium atoms in the structure. Moreover it was clarified that the effect of corrosive environment during the wear test is more significant on the DCT samples as compared with the conventionally treated ones (CHT). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]