KINETIC MODELLING OF BORONIZING KINETICS OF THE SVERKER 3 STEEL WITH THE TAYLOR EXPANSION MODEL AND DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS

Abstract

This study aims to model the boronizing kinetics of Sverker 3 steel in the temperature range 1173 - 1273 K for treatment times between 1 and 7 h. The first used approach is the Taylor expansion (TE) model. It considers the diffusion of boron atoms under transient regime through the surface of the treated Sverker 3 steel. Whereas the second one is the dimensional analysis (DA) model based on the Buckingham’s Pi - theorem. It enables the reduction of the number of variables involved in complex physical phenomena. In formulating this second model, dimensionless groups were derived to simulate the thicknesses of the FeB and Fe2B layers. The predicted values were found to be in good agreement with the experimentally measured layers’ thicknesses. Furthermore, the boron activation energies determined for the FeB and Fe2B layers were 214.92 kJ mol-1 and 203.20 kJ mol-1, respectively, using Taylor Expansion (TE) model and were finally compared with values reported in the literature.