Fabrication and Characterization of Fe-Cr Based Surface Alloys by an Electron Beam Surface Alloying

Abstract In the present work the effect of electron beam surface treatment and Cr alloying of 304L stainless steel was investigated. Two different electron beam currents were used, namely 15 and 25 mA. This resulted in different depths of the electron beam treated zones. The structure of the sample treated with 15 mA was single-phase consisting of an α-Fe phase. The structure of the sample prepared with 25 mA was double-phased consisting of α-Fe and predominantly γ-Fe. In all cases the microhardness of the samples was increased from 224 HV 0.025 to 328 HV 0.025 . The differences in structure and mechanical properties between the samples were discussed.