Mastering Gas Nitriding Process
- Introduction
The Gas nitriding process is diffusion of nascent nitrogen into the surface of steel components to increase the surface hardness, wear resistance, and fatigue strength of the component. Gas nitriding furnace involves heating steel to temperature, typically between 491°C and 566°C. Unlike carburizing, which involves introducing carbon into the metal, gas nitriding introduces nascent nitrogen using ammonia gas as a primary source. The nitrogen reacts with the alloying elements in steel to form a hard alloy nitride layer, improving the performance of components exposed to high stress and wear conditions. Gas nitriding furnace is a low-temperature process compared to other hardening heat treatment methods like heat treatment furnaces, but it requires extended durations, typically 50 -75 hours.
2. Materials Used in the Gas Nitriding Process
The process of diffusing Nitrogen into the ferrous layer by Nitriding process is most effective and widely used for high-speed steel cutting tools, gears, and other critical machinery parts. However, nitriding is not used for all types of steel by Gas nitriding furnace manufacturers. It is most effective for low-carbon alloy steels that have nitride-forming elements such as aluminum, molybdenum, and chromium. These elements facilitate precipitation hardening.
In addition to steels, nitriding also provides good results with titanium, molybdenum, and aluminum alloys.
3. Industries Benefiting from Gas Nitriding
The gas nitriding process is widely preferred in industries and Gas nitriding furnace providers where high durability, wear resistance, and surface hardness are critical to component performance. Key sectors include:
- Automotive Industry: Gas nitriding is often used to treat engine components, camshafts, and crankshafts to enhance fatigue resistance.
- Tooling Industry: Tools such as high-speed steel drills, taps, and reamers undergo gas nitriding to extend their life and reduce wear.
- Heavy Machinery: Components like bearings, gears, and fasteners in mining and construction equipment benefit from this treatment.
- Aluminium Extrusion Industries: Extrusion Dies will be usually under goes nitriding process before utilizing for longevity.
4. Furnace used for Gas Nitriding
4 .a. Pit Type Nitriding Furnace
pit type furnaces for nitriding are of a cylindrical design vertically erected with a positive sealing mechanism on top in order to contain and preserve heat and atmosphere during a process cycle. The job or charge is loaded into a retort which functions as the chamber of the furnace and the retort is heated externally electrically.
Features:
- Vertically designed to handle heavy, large components.
- Capable of operating at temperatures as high as 650°C.
- Sealed retort design ensures precise atmosphere control.
Applications: Used in heavy machinery,, tooling industries, and automobile sectors for treating high-speed gears, driller, and structural components.also used by gas nitriding furnace suppliers and vacuum gas nitriding furnace manufacturers.
- b. Horizontal Type Gas Nitriding Furnace
A horizontal-type gas nitriding furnace is a cycle-operated heat treatment electric furnace, mainly for steel parts and automobile spare parts for gas nitriding.
Features:
- Horizontal, designed to load large no of small/large components without requirement of PIT/Civil work.
- Capable of operating at temperatures as high as 650°C.
- Sealed chamber design ensures precise atmosphere control.
Applications: Used by gas nitriding furnace suppliers in tooling industries and automobile sectors for treating high-speed gears, driller.
4. c. Chamber Nitriding Furnace
These furnaces designed to have a controlled atmosphere with circulation fan to ensure the temperature uniformity for nitriding, nitro carburising and tempering in a controlled atmosphere.
Features:
- Temperature rangesup to 650°C.
- Can handle small parts like gears, tools, bearing and castings in a tray.
- Energy-efficient design with excellent temperature uniformity.
Applications: Chamber Furnaces are widely used in automotive, and manufacturing sectors.
Note:
Other than Gas Nitriding other types of Nitriding processes like vacuum gas nitriding applications, and ammonia gas nitriding furnaces can be carried out are liquid nitriding using salt bath & Ionic nitriding or Plasma Nitriding which uses plasma as a medium for nitriding. Therelek Engineers manufactures the complete range of nitriding furnaces including plasma nitriding furnaces