Change in Dimensions and Surface Roughness of 42CrMo4 Steel after Nitridation in Plasma and Gas

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The authors studied the change in dimensions and surface roughness of 42CrMo4 steel after nitridation in plasma and gas. Some interesting and regular phenomena were observed. And the research can be applied in industrial settings to foretell the geometric accuracy changes of ground parts. However, it is a pity that this article is not enough to be published in coatings. In this work, some experiments are needed to prove the author's arguments. Some comments are as follows:

1.      in the discussion, the authors have not discussed the changes in the surface as section 3.1 shows. I think that different nitriding processes directly lead to different surface changes, which makes sense for this article.

2.      In section 3.1, authors can use surface profilers to characterize surface topography to compare the differences better.

 

3.      Authors have not summarized the effects of nitriding in conclusions and it is not conducive to reading.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

I am sending you brief comments on your comments:

ad 1) the discussion on the changes that occurred on the steel surface after nitriding processes was added

ad 2) in section 3.1, which is now section 3.4, roughness profiles have been added to characterize the surface texture;

ad 3) the summary of the effect of nitriding on the evaluated parameters of 42CrMo4 steel was added to the conclusion.

Thank you in advance for doing the re-review.

Reviewer 2 Report

This paper studyed the surface roughness and size change after nitriding. The results can be used to control the sdimensions and surface roughness of components after nitriding, which has guiding significance to industrial production. 

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

thank you for the positive revision of our manuscript.

Reviewer 3 Report

The manuscript is of scientific interest, however, the main parts of the manuscript must be corrected.

Abstract does not contain information about the main result achieved in described study.

Keywords is very important part of the manuscript. They should allow reader to understand, whether the manuscript topic is in the field of reader's scientific interest. Authors should rewrite keywords.

Conclusion is written in broad terms. It should be rewritten.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

I am sending you notes on your recommendations for the revised manuscript:

ad 1) a considerable part of the article has been corrected, some chapters have been changed to preserve the continuity of the experimental work and the discussion of the results;

ad 2) the abstract has been completely revised;

ad 3) keywords have been changed to reflect your recommendations;

ad 4) the conclusions have been revised.

Thank you once again for the revisions made and I hope that the corrections made are done correctly.

Reviewer 4 Report

The manuscript entitled “coatings-1941050” dealing with Change in dimensions and surface roughness of 42CrMo4 steel after nitridation in plasma and gas has been reviewed. The paper has been nicely written but needs significant improvement. Please follow my comments.

 

 

1.     Please add the contribution of the paper to the abstract. It is not clear what is the novelty of this work.

2.     Figure 2 “SEM images of the surface of the samples: (a) after grinding; (b) after plasma nitriding; (c) after gas nitriding”. The explanation of the figure is not sufficient enough. Please add more discussion on this.

3.     Please briefly introduce the process in the introduction.

4.     Provide more discussion and fundamental relations for figure 3. In the current format, it is not clear.

5.     Add more detail to the conclusion and explain how your findings can support the text.

6.     Coating has many advantages over the conventional manufacturing method which can be highlighted in your paper. The coating can be done using Additive Manufacturing. To highlight the contribution of the paper adds the usage of Additive Manufacturing in the introduction by adding the following papers.

·       The effect of absorption ratio on meltpool features in laser-based powder bed fusion of IN718     

·       Additive manufacturing on the façade: functional use of direct metal laser sintering hatch distance process parameters in building envelope

 

·       Modeling residual thermal stresses in layer-by-layer formation of direct metal laser sintering process for different scanning patterns for 316L stainless steel

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

Thank you for revising the article. I respond to your comments below:

ad 1) the abstract has been completely revised;

ad 2) the discussion on Fig. 2 was supplemented with additional information;

ad 3) the nitriding process was briefly described in the introduction;

ad 4) the discussion on Fig. 3 has been expanded and supplemented;

ad 5) the conclusion was also supplemented with the results obtained through experimental research.

ad 6) your comment about coating is correct and spot on, however due to the focus of the article no mention of additive manufacturing was made.

I hope that after the correction, the article will be satisfactory. Thank you once again for the review.

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

This study has guiding significance to industrial production. 

Reviewer 3 Report

The manuscript was significantly improved.

Reviewer 4 Report

The paper is ready to publish.