Abstract
This work presents the results of experimental studies on the application of surface plasma hardening to improve the tribological characteristics of steel marks of 40CrNi, 20Cr2Ni4A, and 34CrNi1Mn. According to the obtained results, it was established that, after plasma treatment, a modified layer with a thickness of 1–1.2 mm with high hardness and wear resistance is formed, consisting of a hardened layer of fine-grained martensite and, an intermediate layer of perlite and martensite. It was determined that, after treatment with a heating time of 3 min, the microhardness of steels 40CrNi and 20Cr2Ni4A doubles, and the steel 34CrNi1Mn increases 1.6 times, depending on the initial state, and the wear resistance of all steel samples increases, on average, 30 times.