Effect of Low Temperature Plasma Nitriding on the Surface Properties of 17-4PH and A286 Precipitation Hardening Stainless Steels

The effects of low-temperature plasma nitriding on the corrosion, wear and corrosionwear properties of 17-4 PH martensitic and A286 austenitic precipitation-hardening stainless steels have been investigated over a wide range of treatment temperatures and time. Experimental results have shown that the nitrided layer characteristics and properties are highly process condition dependent and there exits the possibility to provide considerable improvement in surface properties required by applications.