MODIFYING THE FRICTIONAL WEAR RESISTANCE

AISI 316L austenitic stainless steel, glow discharge nitriding, boron nitride, pulse laser deposition, hybrid processes. The rapid technical development enhances the demands on constructional materials in terms of their resistance to frictional wear, resistance to corrosion and erosion, high hardness, etc. These demands can be satisfied by, e.g. applying various surface engineering techniques that permit to modify the microstructure, the phase and chemical composition of the surface layers of the treated parts. A prospective line of the development of surface engineering is the production of composite layers by combining various surface engineering methods. This paper presents the results of examinations of the phase composition and frictional wear resistance of the layers produced by hybrid processes, i.e. such that combine glow discharge assisted nitriding performed at 450°C and 550°C with a pulsed laser deposition of boron nitride coatings (PLD method). It has been shown that the boron nitride coatings formed on nitrided 316L steel increase its frictional wear resistance