Gas Carbonitriding

Carbonitriding is a process in which carbon and nitrogen are simultaneously infiltrated into the surface of steel at a temperature of about 800^oC to 880^oC, lower than ordinary gas carburizing, and then quenched and hardened.

In gas carbonitriding, NH₃ gas is added to a normal gas carburizing atmosphere, and nitriding and carburizing are performed simultaneously by the N component decomposed from NH₃.

Since the hardenability is improved by nitriding, it is possible to treat non-alloy steel such as SPCC and low carbon steel which cannot be applied by gas carburizing, and the reduction of material cost is also a great advantage.

Since it can be quenched at a lower temperature than gas carburizing, deformation and distortion due to heat treatment can be reduced.

Characteristics

1. Applicable steel type: Low carbon steel (low carbon steel such as SP material, SS material, S10C), case hardening steel (low carbon alloy steel such as SCM / SCr / SNCM)
2. Quenching is possible at low temperatures, reducing quench deformation. (Excluding case-hardened steel)
3. Since the hardenability is improved by the influence of nitrogen, quenching becomes easy even with carbon steel, which is advantageous in terms of quenching cracking.
4. Compared to gas carburization, the abnormal hardening layer on the outermost surface is suppressed, and a uniform hardened layer can be generated.
5. Improved temper softening resistance compared to gas carburizing.