Growth Kinetics of the Fe2B Coating on AISI H13 Steel

• Published in: Transactions of the Indian Institute of Metals 2015-06, Vol.68 (3), p.433-442
• Main Authors: Keddam, M., Ortiz-Domínguez, M., Elias-Espinosa, M., Damián-Mejía, O., Arenas-Flores, A., Gómez-Vargas, O. A., Abreu-Quijano, M., Aldana-González, Jorge Iván, Zuno-Silva, J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Chemistry and Materials Science; Corrosion and Coatings; Materials Science; Metallic Materials; Technical Paper; Tribology
• ISSN: 0972-2815; 0975-1645
• DOI: 10.1007/s12666-014-0472-x

A kinetic model was suggested to study the growth kinetics of Fe 2 B layers on AISI H13 steel via the pack-boriding method in the temperature range of 1,123–1,273 K. This model was based of the principle of mass conservation at the (Fe 2 B/substrate) interface where the boride incubation time was independent of the boriding temperature. The model was also validated experimentally by comparing the experimental Fe 2 B layers thicknesses with the predicted values at 1,173 K during 7 h, 1,223 K during 5 h, 1,253 K during 2 h and 1,273 K for 3 h. The Fe 2 B layers grown on AISI H13 steel were characterized by use of the following experimental techniques: optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis. In addition, a contour diagram describing the evolution of Fe 2 B layers as a function of the boriding parameters (time and temperature) was proposed. Finally, the boron activation energy for AISI H13 steel was estimated as 233 kJ mol −1 on the basis of our experimental results. This value of energy was compared with the literature data.