Plasma vs Gas
Advantages of Plasma Nitriding Vs. Traditional Gas & Salt Bath Nitriding
Plasma nitriding imparts a hard wear resistant surface without brittleness, galling, or spalling. This eliminates costly cleaning or grinding to remove the brittle white layer associated with traditional nitriding.
A uniform glow discharge that envelops the entire surface achieves a consis- tent hardness and case depth. This is especially noticeable on complex ge- ometries where gas nitriding case depths can be non-uniform.
Plasma nitriding (H2+N2) least affects the surface finish of the product. Salt bath and gas nitriding, which uses ammonia (NH3) and phosphate for activa- tion , will roughen a ground or polished surface.
Plasma nitriding has a higher surface hardness and maintains your material's core properties due to the lower processing temperatures associated with plasma nitriding (900 - 950 Fahrenheit). Traditional nitriding operates at 975 -1075 Fahrenheit and can change the core properties of your material.
More materials can be selected for plasma nitriding, including cast iron, mild steel, mold, tool, high speed and stainless steels.
Plasma nitriding is environmentally friendly. Plasma nitriding uses non-toxic precisely controlled gas mixtures.