4.2. Dependence of coating microstructure on coating time
The steel 45# was also used as the substrate in this section. The pack process was carried out at 1100 °C for all the specimens, but the coating time was varied from 0 h to 8 h. The cross sectional images for specimens with coating times varying from 0 h to 4 h are compared in Fig. 5. It shows that all the coatings obtained had the same cross-sectional microstructure, consisting of an outer layer and an inner layer. There was also a Cr-enriched diffusion zone underneath the inner layer in all cases, which, however, was not visually visible on the SEM images as discussed in the previous section. The XRD and EDS measurements suggested that the outer layer for all the specimens was Cr2N and the inner layer was Cr-carbide. But, the type of Cr-carbides varied with coating time. For instance, as shown in the previous section, the Cr-carbide in the inner layer was (Cr, Fe)7C3 for the specimen coated for 2 h, but, the same analysis showed (the result will be shown later) that it was (Cr, Fe)23C6 for the specimen coated for 8 h. Therefore, it appears that the type of Cr-carbides in the inner layer changed from a lower Cr concentration type to a higher Cr concentration type as coating time increased.