Effect of the Pre-Shot Peening and Nitrogen Ion Implantation Combined Surface Treatments on the Surface Structure and Properties of Gear Steel 16Cr3NiWMoVNbE

Abstract

Transmission engineering components need to fulfill requirements for adequate wear resistance and fatigue resistance, which are related to their surface properties. In this paper, we combined shot peening and nitrogen ion implantation to improve the surface properties of 16Cr3NiWMoVNbE gear steel. The average surface roughness decreased slightly after the ion implantation because of the high-speed impact of implanted ions having the surface etching role. The maximum compressive residual stress of the near-surface layer after the surface treatment increased by more than 11.8–15.9% compared with shot peening. The nitrogen ions diffused through the peening deformation channel, and the deformation degree and the implantation temperature were positively correlated with the diffusion process. The surface nano-hardness obtained by ion implantation after shot peening was increased by 124.4% compared to the AR state.