Study on Slurry Paste Boronizing of 410 Martensitic Stainless Steel Using Taguchi Based Desirability Analysis (TDA)

Abstract

The application of martensitic stainless steel in gas turbine blades, bushings, valves and mine ladder rungs requires wear and corrosion resistant surfaces. The process of boronizing can produce extremely hard and wear resistant surfaces for such components. The study depicts the application of Taguchi based desirability analysis for parameter design in the process of boronizing martensitic stainless steel. The surface hardness, diffusion depth and wear loss were observed on samples subjected to slurry paste boronizing (SPB). During experimentation, the parameters varied include the boronizing temperature, boronizing time and paste thickness. The optimal setting of the boronizing parameters identified by Taguchi based desirability analysis (TDA) was observed to improve the quality characteristics studied in the process significantly. The duration of boronizing process was found to play a major role in controlling the diffusion depth and the formation of a mono phasic (FeB) layer on the surface was found to be the reason for improved hardness and wear resistance.