The study of plasma nitriding of AISI304 stainless steel

This paper presents results on the plasma nitriding of AISI 304 stainless steel at different temperatures in NH (3) gas. The working pressure was 100-200 Pa and the discharge voltage was 700 similar to 800V. The phase of nitrided layer formed on the surface was confirmed by X-ray diffraction. The hardness of the samples was measured by using a Vickers microhardness tester with the load of 50g. After nitriding at about 400 degrees C for two hours a nitrided layer consisting of single gamma(N) phase with thickness of 5 mu m was obtained. Microhardness measurements showed significant increase in the hardness from 240 HV (for untreated samples) up to 950 HV (for nitrided samples at temperature of 420 degrees C). The phase composition, the thickness, the microstructure and the surface topography of the nitrided layer as well as its properties depend essentially on the process parameters.