A Modified Vacuum Gas Carburizing Process To Improve Corrosion And Wear Resistance Of Nitrogen Martensitic Stainless Steels In Salt water Environments

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II proposal to the Department of Defense requests $749,982 for continuation of research and scale up of technology to carburize, nitride or carbonitride surfaces of tailhook shoes. The proposal is for continuation of work in Phase I Option Award N68335-10-C-0173, Innovative Materials for Highly Loaded Wear Applications in Arresting Gear Tailhook Components. The significance of this work is that processes have been developed for the surface modification of steels to provide excellent wear and corrosion resistance. The processes are resistant to impact and scuffing type abrasion encountered in arresting of aircraft. The hard, wear resistant surface would increase service life of tailhook assemblies at lower cost because, compared to today"s technology, the time and material cost to chemically modify the surface should be less than half. The processes have been developed, and the Phase II effort will be used to determine whether less expensive steels can be used, and to scale up to further reduce cost of the assemblies. The process employs high temperature to introduce carbon or nitrogen to the surface. Diffusion occurs and the carbon or nitrogen reacts with elements within the alloy to create a hard, wear and corrosion resistant surface.