Case hardening technique is in use for a long time in metallurgy and steel has been effective for case hardening due to its ability of lower temperature heat treatment. It includes the ability to harden a part by dissolving nitrogen into its surface without austenitizing to eliminate the risk of distortion. Nitriding steel’s popularity is growing in engineers after they realized its use in several applications and parts of industries.
How Nitriding Steel Process Works
The process of nitriding steel is carried out by heating parts in a furnace at a low temperature between 950 and 11,00 degrees Fahrenheit. At this temperature, iron remains ferritic and that alter the structure of the iron but the temperature remains high enough to allow ammonia molecules to inject into the furnace to break apart the workpieces. The modern nitriding equipment allows precise injection of Nickel to achieve varying case depths. Parts are fee cooled rather than cooling via quenching. 1.8550, 1.2891 are the boiler steel for nitriding process.
34CrAlNi7-10, 1.8550 Application
34CrAlNi7-10, 1.8550 steel is used to work at high temperature, especially an environment that needs high sliding properties, corrosion, temperature, abrasion and fatigue resistance. Now the steel with the addition of Nickel and Aluminium is also available for energy, machinery, and automotive industries. Nickel and Aluminum added steel is in high demand for large cross-section elements in the heat-treated condition. 34CrAlNi7-10, 1.8550 nitriding steel’s products are screws, rods, cylinders, piston, gears, extruders and rings. All these products do not need welding due to their passing through nitriding process in the furnace.
Mechanical Specification of 34CrAlNi7-10, 1.8550
34CrAlNi7-10, 1.8550 comprises of chromium, aluminum, and nickel. 1.8550 steel is an alloy steel formulated for primary forming into wrought products. Its properties can be experienced at appropriate quenching and tempered condition. 1.8550 steel is the EN numeric designation for a material. 34CrAlNi7-10 is also EN chemical designation and it has moderately low melting temperature among EN wrought alloy steel. In addition, it has high electrical conductivity and low thermal conductivity. Like 1.2891 steel, it can also work on elevated temperature.