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Solution:
- Proper mounting
- Plane grinding with SiC paper
- Fine grinding with diamond
- Diamond polishing on hard cloths
Fig.1: Shrinkage gap between specimen 500x Fig. 2: Without edge retention, the layer is not in focus
and mounting resin can cause flaking at high magnification
of the nitrided layer and trap abrasives
Formation and Nitriding processes
composition of the and application of
nitrided layer nitrided parts
At nitriding temperature the nitrogen dif- Fig. 4: Nitrocarburised carbon steel after heating for 45 Before nitriding, the components have
min/300C, etched with 1% Nital showing nitride need-
fuses into the steel surface and reacts with les in the diffusion zone.
to be thoroughly cleaned and degreased.
iron, forming iron nitride (Fe4N), contain- Any surface contamination from grinding
ing up to 6 wt % N. With increasing nitro- particles, oil or metal chips will result in
gen the -phase (Fe3N) is formed, which an uneven formation of the nitrided layer.
can absorb up to 11 wt % N. This can cause cracks in the coating which
These two iron nitride phases, +, form leads to flaking and corrosion (see Figs. 6
the compound layer, also called white and 7) After cleaning, the parts are dried
layer, because it stays white when the steel and preheated and then transferred to the
is etched with Nital. This compound layer actual nitriding environment.
does not contain any metal but consists of The various nitriding processes can be dif-
a non-metallic phase formed by iron and ferentiated mainly by their nitrogen source
nitrogen that can be called a nitride ce- and the energy supply. Salt bath-, gas- and
ramic. In the outer areas of the compound plasma nitriding have different advan-
Fig. 5: Alloyed steel, nitrocarburised, etched with 1%
layer a porous zone can be found (see Nital, shows dark diffusion zone, and white compound
tages regarding investment cost, process
Fig. 3). layer with dark oxide coat. time, environment, safety and quality.
The properties of the resulting nitrided or
The percentage of and -nitride depends the steel, such as aluminium, molybdenum, nitrocarburised surface are in many cases
on the carbon content of the steel: higher chromium and tungsten. independent of the production process.
carbon content promotes the formation of The required case depth is determined by
, lower carbon content forms more iron Because of their sub-microscopically fine the application of the nitrided component
nitride. distribution the nitrides in the diffusion and can be regulated through the nitriding
zone of low carbon steels generally can not temperature and time.
With an optical microscope the differen-
be seen after etching of the metallographic
tiation of and iron nitrides in the com-
sample. However, after heating the sample In the following paragraphs the different
pound layer is only possible by using very
to tempering temperature (200-400 C for nitriding processes are briefly described
special and difficult etching methods.
15-30 min), the nitrogen in solid solution and the application of the nitrided parts
A correct analysis of the composition can
precipitates in the form of nitride needles. mentioned.
only be made by quantitative structural
These nitride needles can be etched so that
x-ray analysis using deeply penetrating
the diffusion zone becomes visible and its
radiation.
thickness can be measured (Fig. 4).
The compound layer is relatively hard and On alloy steels the diffusion zone will be
the hardness increases with increasing con- etched dark with Nital, but the nitrides can
tent of nitride forming alloying elements, not be resolved with an optical microscope
at the same time the case depth decreases. (Fig. 5).
Nitrided carbon steels have a surface hard-
The thickness of the white layer and the dif-
ness of 300-400 HV and alloyed steels from
fusion zone depends on various parameters
700 HV to more than 1000 HV.
of which the most important ones are time,
Below the compound zone is the diffusion temperature and steel composition. The
zone containing nitrogen in solid solution. white layer can be between 0-20 m and
In addition, it has stable metal nitrides the diffusion zone up to 0.8 mm, depending
formed by the various alloying elements of on the requirements of the application.
=18 m
{
{ Porous
zone
Compound layer
-Nitride
-Nitride
1000:1
Fig. 3: Details of composition of Enlarged = Fe
nitrided layer = Possible N-Positions
Fig. 6 and 7: Impurities in the steel and on the surface
can lead to faulty areas in the nitride layer and cause
cracking or corrosion.
Nitrocarburised cases are particularly
resistant against abrasive wear, scuffing,
sliding friction and corrosion. The porous
surface can retain lubricants which adds
to the running properties of, for instance,
camshafts. (Fig. 8)
Fig.16: High alloy steel (X45CrSi9V), salt bath nitrocar- Fig.17: Same as Fig.16, mounted with copper foil, the
burised, oxidised, etched with 1% Nital, diffusion zone compound layer can clearly be seen against the copper
is etched dark, compound layer can not be distingu- foil and can be measured.
ished from mounting resin.
Grinding
Table 1:
Step PG FG Preparation method for
nitrided steels
DiaPro
Suspension
Allegro/Largo
Lubricant Water
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