Nitrex Metal Inc., Quebec, offers Nitreg, a family of potential-controlled gas nitriding technologies that enable the creation of individually customized processes for different parts, applications, and materials, with optimal results.
Nitreg is capable of meeting the metallurgical requirements of all nitriding specifications that may have been originally written for salt bath, plasma, or traditional gas nitriding. The ability to control the concentration of nitrogen in the surface allows the user to control the growth of the compound layer virtually independently from developing a desirable diffusion zone. This approach facilitates not only meeting any specification requirements, but also makes it possible to improve on them by allowing tighter tolerances, particularly with regard to the thickness and properties of the compound layer.
The most significant characteristic of Nitreg and its derivative technologies is the ability to produce various configurations of the nitrided layer tailored to enhance resistance to wear, fatigue, or corrosion. Generally speaking, all ferrous alloys, including stainless steels and cast irons, and even titanium alloys, are capable of being nitrided.
However, the various alloys have different characteristics with regard to surface conditions, the natural speed of diffusion, and propensity to form nitrides. It is important to understand that even a properly run nitriding process will produce significantly different results on dissimilar materials. Consequently, some users may have insurmountable difficulties, particularly if their methodology is primitive and/or their knowledge and experience inadequate.
