Plasma Nitriding Post-Treatment
A thermochemical diffusion process for enriching the boundary layer with nitrogen in a glow discharge to enhance wear resistance and fatigue life. It is performed after mechanical shaping.
Plasma nitriding is a case-hardening process. You place the workpiece in a vacuum chamber and expose it to a glow discharge, causing nitrogen to diffuse into the surface and form hard nitrides there. This makes the component surface wear-resistant and increases the fatigue strength. The process is well-suited for post-treatment, but you have to be careful if you want to weld afterward. The hardened layer must be completely removed in the weld area before welding, otherwise you'll get cracks or porosity in the weld metal. Also, you must not overheat the components, otherwise the nitride layer will break down again.