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Gas Nitriding: Applications, Possibilities and Limits
Jack Kalucki, Nitrex Metal Inc.

When the original idea of building a fully automated control system for gas nitriding was born, many difficulties had to be overcome. Apprehensions in the industry proved to be the biggest challenge. Gas nitriding had a bad reputation, and few industries ventured to give it a chance. The first trials and successful recipes evolved around the tool and die industry, where the superior benefits nitriding were clearly demonstrated by the improved performance of dies..

As the Nitreg ® technology expanded through commercial heat-treating operations, it gained acceptance, and the number of applications grew steadily. It remained, however centered on high value applications that require very special case configurations and few equipment modifications.

The most recent and significant development has been driven ferritic nitrocarburizing. Synonymous with high volume production, short cycles, lower added value, this technology is having the most significant impact on equipment design. Far-reaching changes in equipment design, and automation, are currently leading us toward “lights out plants” capable of competing in the global markets.