Advantages of Plasma Nitriding
Typical feature of plasma nitriding is the active participation of the treated parts in the glow discharge - the parts act as a cathode, while the chamber acts as an anode. There are many advantages of this method over conventional gas nitriding:
• Cost effectiveness
- 3 to 10 times reduced duration of treatment;
- 50% - 100 % less energy consumption;
- 50 to 100 times less working gas consumption;
• Distortion - none or negligible distortions, because ion nitriding is performed at lower temperature and under vacuum;
• Higher surface, case and core hardness;
• Excellent wear resistance - the ion nitriding process produces a compound zone which is dense, nonporous, very hard, not brittle, and has a low coefficient of friction;
• Reproducible results and better control - the technological process of ion nitriding is fully automated and computer controlled. The parts are heated by the ion bombardment on their surface and therefore the parts are heated uniformly;
• Surface finish - due to minimum deformations no additional mechanical treatments are necessary;
• Necessity of predepassivation of stainless steel is eliminated;
• Masking - surfaces which require masking are easily masked with reusable mechanical masking devices or special paint for masking - 100 % effective;
• Excellent hygiene and working conditions - the process is not toxic and corresponds to all modern requirements for environmental control.