Assessment of the application potential of the intensified glow discharge for industrial plasma nitriding of Ti-6Al-4V

The potential of the plasma nitriding process with an intensified glow discharge for industrial applications was examined. Investigations of nitriding layer growth were accomplished on disks, pistons and rotating bending specimens from the common α-β-alloy Ti-6Al-4V. By nitriding in argon–nitrogen plasmas with a low nitrogen content (less than 10 vol.%) it was possible to produce approximately 150 μm thick diffusion layers without compound layers at temperatures of about 500 °C within 6 h. The sliding wear of the nitrided disks was examined by a pin-on-disk test against Al2O3 balls. The calculated wear volume decreased from approximately 0.62 mm3 for the untreated substrates to approximately 0.07 mm3 for the nitrided substrates.