Various specimens were prepared by uniformly spreading powders of different kinds over iron plates with alcohol or water used as a binding material. To form a diffusion layer of an element as a powder, the specimen was heated to a high temperature by subjecting it to the bombardment of a scanning electron beam which is focused thereon. Crystal structures of the specimens were analysed by an X-ray diffractometer, and the sectional structures were investigated by an optical microscope and a scanning electron microscope.
Thin melted layers formed on the surfaces which were covered with powders of WC, Sic and B
4C had Vickers hardness numbers of 1, 900, and 700 and 900, respectively. The high hardness is ascribed to the ternary alloys produced in the specimens. The specimen covered with Ce(NO
3)
3 6H
2O withstands melting caused by the bombardment of electrons. This heat resisting property may be attributed to depositions of CeO
2 in the specimen.
View full abstract