Kinetics of the formation of Fe2B layers in gray cast iron: Effects of boron concentration and boride incubation time

The growth kinetics of Fe2B layers formed at the surface of gray cast iron were evaluated in this study. The pack-boriding process was applied to produce the Fe2B phase at the material surface, and the variables included three temperatures (1173, 1223 and 1273 K) and four exposure times (2, 4, 6 and 8 h). Taking into account the growth fronts obtained at the surface of the material and the mass balance equation at the Fe2B/substrate interface, the boron diffusion coefficient on the borided phase was estimated for the range of treatment temperatures. Likewise the parabolic growth constant, the instantaneous velocity of the Fe2B/substrate interface, and the weight gain in the borided samples were established as a function of the parameters τ(t) and α(C), which are related to the boride incubation time (t0(T)) and boron concentration at the Fe2B phase, respectively. Observation of the growth kinetics of the Fe2B layers in gray cast irons suggest an optimum value of boron concentration that is in good agreement with the set of boriding experimental conditions used in this work.