Engineering

Layers and Considerations

The Plasma nitriding process produces a hard outer skin on the material being nitrided. The
hardness achieved on the surface decreases with depth until the core hardness is reached. The
graph in Fig. 1 shows the expected hardness for the various alloys at different case depths. The
slope is more gradual for low alloy steels and very sharp for highly alloyed steels. The nitride
forming elements in the steel's composition are the primary factors controlling the hardness and
the case depth. The low alloy steel will provide a deeper case depth but a lower overall hardness.

Hardness Chart - HIDE -