New developments in thermo-chemical diffusion processes

Thermo-chemical diffusion processes like carburising, nitriding and boronizing play an important part in modern manufacturing technologies. They exist in many varieties depending on the type of diffusing element used and the respective process procedure. The most important industrial heat treatment process is case-hardening, which consists of the thermo-chemical diffusion process carburising or its variation carbonitriding, followed by a subsequent quench. The latest developments of using different gaseous carburising agents and increasing the carburising temperature are one main area of this paper. her area is the evolvement of nitriding and especially the ferritic nitrocarburising process by improved process control and newly developed process variations using carbon, nitrogen and oxygen as diffusing elements in various process steps. Also, boronizing and special thermo-chemical processes for stainless steels are discussed.