Properties and Characterization of Hard Coatings Obtained by Boriding: An Overview

Some physicochemical and mechanical properties of surface hard coatings obtained by the paste-boriding process are summarized in this work. Different grades of borided ferrous alloys were used to develop the formation of surface layers type Fe2B or FeB/Fe2B. Furthermore, in order to characterize the nature of boride layers, some classical techniques are presented and discussed such as Glow Discharge Optical Emission Spectrometry (GDOES), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and estimation of residual stresses by X-Ray Diffraction method. Also, the morphology of borided interfaces was evaluated by concepts of fractal theory.