The wear mechanism of plasma electrolytic nitrocarburised (PEN/C) 316L stainless steel samples was studied after a pin on disc wear test. The surface morphology of samples after application of PEN/C process was studied using scanning electron microscope technique. The sliding tracks resulting from the wear tests on the treated specimens indicated no signs of plastic deformation and adhesive wear, but the slider wear particles were trapped in the micro-craters of the counterface. The results showed that this mechanism may further improve the tribological performance of the system by increasing the wear resistance and lowering friction. PEN/C treated surfaces are therefore believed to have the potential to limit metal-to-metal wear mechanisms on a microscale, if contact pressures are sufficiently low

Keywords: wear, plasma electrolytic process, friction, 316 stainless steel

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