Abstract
In this study, ion nitriding of a EHA pump part made of AISI 4340 steel was performed under different applied power conditions to study the relationship between dimensional changes of specimens and the type of applied power source. Microstructures and micohardness distribution at different processing conditions were also examined. Duplex surface treatment of ion nitriding with the optimum process conditions to produce the minimum dimensional variation in a EHA pump part and a TiN thin film coating by unbalanced magnetron sputtering was performed and the specimens with a duplex surface treatment were subjected to a high speed wear test to evaluate the wear performance of EHA hydraulic pump parts with various surface treatment conditions. Results indicated that uniform and continuous surface layer with a minimum dimensional variation could be obtained by ion nitriding with bipolar mode power source and much enhanced wear characteristics with a duplex surface treatment could be obtained, compared with results from ion nitriding or single-layerd TiN coating specimens.
