Investigation of nanocrystalline pulsed plasma electrolytic carbonitriding as novel method for wear protection of 316L austenitic stainless steel

Very few studies have focused on the optimisation of the nanocrystalline pulsed plasma electrolytic carbonitriding process parameters. A design of experiment technique, the Taguchi method, has been used to optimise the nanocrystalline pulsed plasma electrolytic carbonitriding. The experimental design consisted of four factors (triethanolamine concentration, electrical conductivity of electrolyte, applied voltage and duration of process), each containing three levels. All experiments were carried out under optimum constant frequency and duty cycle of rectangular shape pulse current method. Abrasive wear measurements were carried out to determine the wear resistance of the coated samples. The optimised coating parameters for wear resistance are 1020 g L–1 for triethanolamine concentration, 360 ms cm–1 for electrical conductivity of electrolyte, 400 V for applied voltage, 30 min for treatment time. The results showed that the applied voltage is the most significant factor affecting the wear resistanc...