Application of Low Temperature Liquid Sulfurization Catalyzed with Rare Earth on Cr12 Impacting Die

One kind of quenched Cr12 steel dies for impacting stainless steel wire rope (SSWR) was treated by low temperature liquid sulfurization catalyzed with rare earths, in order to extend their service life for assuring the continuity of production line, and simultaneously improve the surface quality of SSWR obtained. After immerged into the melting sulphur containing 4% (mass fraction) of LaF3 and 1% of CeCl3 at 463 K for 4 h, the sulfurized dies were very smooth and black, with little distortion and hardness loss. They exhibited a certain extent of corrosion-resistance in air due to the coexisting rare earths in the sulfurized layer. Optical observations showed that the sulfurized layer was uniform and had scale-like structure. The trail of machined SSWR indicated that the production capacity of sulfurized dies had been doubled and the replacing period on line was postponed. SEM morphology also proved that the wear extent of cavities on sulfurized dies decreased greatly and the surface quality of SSWR obtained was improved markedly.