Surface Treatments on DIN-16MnCr5 Steel: A Tribological and Statistical Assessment Using Response Surface Methodology
摘要
This study investigates the tribological performance of DIN-16MnCr5 steel subjected to six different surface treatments—untreated, nitriding, carburizing, nitriding with post-oxidation, manganese phosphate coating, and the powder pack boriding process—under three loading conditions (5 N, 10 N, and 20 N) for the case of wear tests. Key tribological indicators, including specific wear rate, coefficient of friction, wear depth, and tribocorrosion synergy, were evaluated using a ball-on-flat setup in a saline environment. A statistical experimental design based on response surface methodology (RSM) with 3 replicated trials enabled robust modeling and optimization. ANOVA revealed that surface treatment and load significantly influence tribocorrosion responses (P < 0.005), contributing 71.3% to the variation in S, 61.3% in wear depth, and 52.0% in k. Among all treatments, boriding and phosphate with manganese coatings (PPBP and CMnP) exhibited the best performance, reducing k and S by up to 99.6% and 97%, respectively. On the other hand, the untreated material steel showed the most severe degradation (k = 900.5 mm3/Nm × 10−6; and S = 1.12). The developed second-order models highlighted nonlinear interactions and confirmed the strong synergy between mechanical wear and corrosion. These findings support the strategic selection of surface treatments for high-performance applications exposed to aggressive tribocorrosive environments.