GLOW DISCHARGE ASSISTED NITRIDING OF CHROMIUM STEEL 3H13

resistance. The paper discusses the effects of the glow-discharge assisted nitriding of 3H13 (X30Cr13 PN-EN 10088-1:1998) steel carried out under various conditions upon the microstructure, chemical composition, phase composition and topography of the steel surface. Moreover, this paper presents also how this process improves the performance properties of the steel, such as its corrosion and frictional wear resistance. The present experiments were intended to be the initial stage of the study aimed at developing the fundamentals of new hybrid technologies of composite surface layers, based on a combination of glow discharge nitriding with ion implantation, Ion Beam Assisted Deposition (IBAD) and Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD)