Corrosion resistance of austenitic steel 316l after unconventional glow discharge nitriding

The nitrided layers produced on 316L austenitic stainless steel by glow discharge plasma nitriding at 490 degrees C in the processing time of 14 h were studied. The location of the samples in the working chamber was as follows: on the cathode of ion furnance, on the ceramic insulator (in the plasma potential mode), on the cathode with assisting shield and on the ceramic insulator with assisting shield. It was stated that use of assisting shields increased both the depth of nitrogen diffusion into nitriding steel and the thickness of surface layers as well.