A RESPONSE SURFACE STUDY ON THE GROWN BEHAVIOR AND SOME MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF NIOBIUM CARBIDE COATINGS.

In this study, response surface methodology was used to examine the effects of temperature and time on the development of niobium carbide coatings on AISI D3 steel. The effect of niobizing temperature (900–1100∘C) and period (2–6 hours) on coating thickness, hardness, fracture toughness, coefficient of friction and wear rates was investigated. ANOVA was conducted to analyze the experimental data, and it was observed that the coating thickness and microhardness increased with temperature and time. The response surfaces developed for fracture toughness, coefficient of friction and wear rates were found to exhibit a complex structure that is significantly influenced by temperature, time and their interactions. The correlation coefficients of the developed regression models range between 0.82 and 0.99. Using the empirical formulas obtained with these mathematical models, it is predicted that niobium carbide coatings can be obtained with the targeted properties more economically and practically with the thermochemical method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]