Fretting fatigue properties of plasma nitrided AISI 316 L stainless steel: Experiments and finite element analysis

This study investigates the effects of thickness, hardness and composition of modified layer on the plain and fretting fatigue properties of the nitrided 316 L steel plasma nitrided under various processing conditions. Fretting fatigue behaviour of untreated and nitrided material is also analysed with the finite element method. Experimental and theoretical fatigue life results are compared. The result indicates that the nitriding process improved the fretting fatigue properties of 316 L stainless steel. The experimental test results are close to theoretical fretting fatigue life results, thus it yields that the established model in the numerical analysis is consistent in this regard. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.