Application of integral method for investigating the boriding kinetics of AISI 316 steel

The present work is dealing with the modelling of boriding kinetics of AISI 316 steel in the temperature range 1123-1273 K. A diffusion model based on the integral method was used in order to investigate the kinetics of formation of FeB and Fe2B layers and that of diffusion zone formed on AISI 316 steel by considering the presence of boride incubation times. By using a particular solution of the resulting differential algebraic system, the diffusion coefficients in FeB, Fe2B and diffusion zone (DZ) were estimated as well as the corresponding values of activation energies. Finally, this present diffusion model has been experimentally validated for two additional boriding conditions (1243 K for 3 and 5 h of treatment). A good concordance was observed between the experimental and the simulated results in terms of layers' thicknesses.