Potential of cow horn for carbonitriding treatment of steel
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Date
2018-02-07
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Springer Link (Waste Biomass Valor)
Abstract
The potential of carbonitriding treatment of steel with cow horn was investigated in line with abattoir waste to wealth
approach of waste management. The objectives of the study included processing of cow horn into different morphologies
namely: powder and flakes for carbonitriding heat treatment, and, chemical analyses of cow horn with Energy Dispersive
Spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) techniques to determine the chemical composition and phases of cow
horn respectively. The heat treatment was carried out at 850 and 450 °C for carburizing and nitriding dominated processes
respectively. Vickers hardness measurement was carried out to determine the hardness profile on carbonitrided samples.
Optical metallography was carried out for microstructural examination and to investigate phase contrast between the case and
core of carbonitrided sample. The result of hardness test observed is consistent with the case hardening profile with higher
hardness value at near surface decreasing towards core. Sample heat treated with horn flakes showed higher hardness than
those with horn powder. Microstructural phase contrast showed delineation of the hardened case and soft inner core. The
high hardness of case was attributed to diffusion of carbon and nitrogen atoms from the cow horn to iron interstices. This
supposition was corroborated by detection of carbon and nitrogen with EDS and XRD tests. It was therefore concluded that
cow horn could be processed as candidate materials for carbonitriding of steel.
Description
Keywords
Abattoir, Carbonitriding, Hardness, Horn, Steel, Waste
Citation
Ahmed I.I., Mohammed A.T., Abdulkareem S., Yahaya T., Ambali I.O. & Bayode B. L. (2019). Potential of cow horn for carbonitriding treatment of steel: Journal of Waste and Biomass Valorization. 10(7); 1969-1978.