Influence of copper amount on the pack boronizing behaviour of Fe-Cu binary alloys [Fe-Cu ̄kili alaşimlarinin kutu borlama davranişina bakir miktarinin etkisi]

The fe-cu binary alloys prepared with the addition of 1,2,4,8 and 16 at. % copper along with pure iron were pack boronised at 1000°c' for 3 h. the microstructure,chemical composition,phase contents and microhardness of the formed boride layers were characterized by means of xrd,(scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive x-ray diffraction) sem-eds and vickers microhardness measurements. the increasing amount of cu in the fe-cu alloys resulted in change of boride morphology and boride crystals growing towards the substrates become thinner and longer with saw tooth morphology. copper atoms has neither formed a cuxby compound nor made a solid solution in fe-b. however,copper rich precipitates were accumulated parallel to the growth direction of the boride crystals. the amount and size of these precipitates increased with the increase of cu in fe-cu alloys. the boron rich feb phase formation was favored and total boride layer thickness increased though the hardness of the boride layer decreased with the increase of cu in the substrates.