Carbonitriding

2 Characteristics of carbonitrided
parts
Carbonitriding forms a hard, wear-resistant case, is typically 0.07 mm to 0.5 mm thick, and generally has higher
hardness than a carburized case. Case depth is tailored
to the application; a thicker case increases the wear life
of the part. Carbonitriding alters only the top layers of
the workpiece; and does not deposit an additional layer,
so the process does not signicantly alter the dimensions
of the part.
Maximum case depth is typically restricted to 0.75 mm;
case depths greater than this take too long to diuse to
A modern nitriding, carburizing and carbonitriding furnace
be economical. Shorter processing times are preferred to
restrict the concentration of nitrogen in the case, as nitroCarbonitriding is a metallurgical surface modication gen addition is more dicult to control than carbon. An
technique that is used to increase the surface hardness of excess of nitrogen in the work piece can cause high levels
of retained austenite and porosity, which are undesirable
a metal, thereby reducing wear.
in producing a part of high hardness.
During the process, atoms of carbon and nitrogen diffuse interstitially into the metal, creating barriers to slip,
increasing the hardness and modulus near the surface.
Carbonitriding is often applied to inexpensive, easily ma- 3 Advantages
chined low carbon steel to impart the surface properties
of more expensive and dicult to work grades of steel.[1] Carbonitriding also has other advantages over carburizSurface hardness of carbonitrided parts ranges from 55 ing. To begin, it has a greater resistance to softening during tempering and increased fatigue and impact strength.
to 62 HRC.
It is possible to use both carbonitriding and carburizCertain pre-industrial case hardening processes include
ing together to form optimum conditions of deeper case
not only carbon-rich materials such as charcoal, but
depths and therefore performance of the part in indusnitrogen-rich materials such as urea, which implies that
try. This method is applied particularly to steels with low
traditional surface hardening techniques were a form of
case hardenability, such as the seat of the valve. The procarbonitriding.
cess applied is initially carburizing to the required case
depth (up to 2.5 mm) at around 900-955C, and then carbonitriding to achieve required carbonitrided case depth.
The parts are then oil quenched, and the resulting part
1 Process
has a harder case than possibly achieved for carburization, and the addition of the carbonitrided layer increases
Carbonitriding is similar to gas carburization with the ad- the residual compressive stresses in the case such that the
dition of ammonia to the carburizing atmosphere, which contact fatigue resistance and strength gradient are both
provides a source of nitrogen. Nitrogen is absorbed at the increased.
surface and diuses into the workpiece along with carbon.
Carbonitriding (around 850 C / 1550 F) is carried out
at temperatures substantially higher than plain nitriding
(around 530 C / 990 F) but slightly lower than those 4 Applications
used for carburizing (around 950 C / 1700 F) and for
shorter times. Carbonitriding tends to be more econom- Typical applications for case hardening are gear teeth,
ical than carburizing, and also reduces distortion during cams, shafts, bearings, fasteners, pins, hydraulic piston
quenching. The lower temperature allows oil quenching, rods, automotive clutch plates, tools, dies and tillage
or even gas quenching with a protective atmosphere.
tools.
1

See also
Dierential hardening
Nitridization
Quench polish quench
Surface engineering

References

[1] Carbonitriding

REFERENCES

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