Status and Trends in Fusion-Based Surface Modification Techniques for Self-Lubricating High Temperature Properties in Austenitic Stainless Steel Using Refractories

This paper conducted extensive review of extant literature on fusion-based technique for surface modification of austenitic stainless steel AISI 304 grade (304SS) for high temperature self-lubricating application using refractory carbides. Careful systematic review of available literature indicates that among the families of refractory carbides, only silicon carbide (SiC) and titanium carbide (TiC) were successfully adsorbed on the surface of 304SS via fusion melting techniques with TiC having more documentation. Yet, this information was limited to ambient temperature properties of the TiC coatings as such high temperature properties as creep-fatigue, thermal stability, hot corrosion and oxidation were not reported. Additionally, information on the incorporation of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) into TiC coatings to address the high temperature self-lubricating challenges associated with the alloy was not available. Further, literature is scarce on multi-layer longitudinal and transverse coatings to address the challenges inherent with single layer coating. The review established that there is a wide gap in both knowledge and practice in the deposition of self-lubricating high temperature properties in 304SS substrate material using fusion-based technique which offers a window for research exploration.