Ion Nitriding Capabilities: Mechanical Masking/Selective Hardening

Posted on February 20, 2012 by ahtadmin

UltraGlow Ion (pulse plasma) Nitriding allows for selective hardening. By using a mechanical mask and eliminating the direct contact of the glow discharge, active nitrogen species are stopped from reaching the surface and nitriding does not occur. Masking in UltraGlow Ion Nitriding is highly reliable, line sharp, and easy to implement. Tubes, screws, sheet metal, piping, and other sections, as well as loading with surfaces against each other, can be used indefinitely to prevent ion nitriding. The ease of masking in UltraGlow Ion Nitriding is especially valuable when protecting threads and/or processing large quantities of small parts.

Mechanical masking of torsion bars during UltraGlow Ion Nitriding

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What is Quench & Temper?

Posted on February 9, 2012 by ahtadmin

Quench and temper is a heat treat process for hardening medium carbon alloy steel. This consists of heating the parts to a temperature above the transformation range and rapid cooling to room temperature, usually using an oil quench. This may be performed by air or in a controlled atmosphere to protect the part’s surface. Parts are then reheated to a lower temperature to the desired final hardness range. Sometimes quench and temper is referred to as through hardening.

You can read more about Advanced Heat Treat’s quench and temper process here, which is done at the Burton, Iowa facility:

 

 

 

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Heat Treat Processes–Trade Names

Posted on February 2, 2012 by ahtadmin

This question recently came up during a “heat treat 101″ lunch & learn session we conducted, so we thought  it may be helpful to others.

There are a lot of trade names out there when it comes to heat treatment. For example, Advanced Heat Treat Corp. has trademarked the name UltraGlow for it’s processes of ion (pulse plasma) nitriding, gas nitriding and induction hardening. AHT also has a trademarked heat treat name for it’s black oxidation treatment (UltraOx).

UltraGlow Ion (Pulse Plasma) Nitriding

There are a lot of other trade names out there for heat treatments that are similar in process, just called something different–here are some of the most recognized terms:

Kolene QPQ (salt-bath nitrocarburizing treatment), Kolsterising (case-hardening process primarily for austentic stainless steels), Lindure (generally known as ferritic nitrocarburizing), Melonite (generically known as salt bath ferritic nitrocarburizing), Nitrotec (nitrocarburizing plus oxidation treatment) and QPQ (quench-polish-quench: type of carbonitriding process–comparable to Nitrotec and UltraOx).

There are many more heat treat trade names out there to confuse you, so make sure you speak to a metallurgist or heat treat expert when discussing your specific process to make sure you’re all on the same page!

 

 

Posted in Carbonitriding, Carburizing, Gas Nitriding, Heat Treating, Induction Heating, Ion Nitriding, Pulse Plasma Nitriding, Quench & Temper, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

What is Ferritic Nitrocarburizing?

Posted on January 25, 2012 by ahtadmin

Ferritic nitrocarburizing is essentially the ion (pulse plasma) nitriding process performed in a mixture of nitrogen and hydrogen with small additions of gases containing carbon. In this thermochemical treatment, both nitrogen and carbon are diffused into the surface of ferrous materials usually at temperatures not exceeding 1100 degrees Fahrenheit.

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What’s up, Doc?

Posted on January 19, 2012 by ahtadmin

Advanced Heat Treat Corp.’s January newsletter has been posted online; this month AHT challenges you to pose a plasma/ion or gas nitriding-related question to Dr. Glow (aka Dr. Edward Rolinski)–to see if you can ‘stump’ him! Click here to read the entire heat treat newsletter and submit your question to Dr. Glow today!

Dr. Edward Rolinski, aka Dr. Glow!

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Advanced Heat Treat Owner Recognized by The Monty

Posted on January 16, 2012 by ahtadmin
Thank you to “The Monty” for mentioning Advanced Heat Treat Corp. and owner Gary Sharp in their latest Heat Treat News post:
“We had the opportunity to spend a few days this past week with Gary Sharp, founder and owner of Advanced Heat Treat Corp. doing some skiing in Colorado….While it is a bold statement I would say that Gary is the person most responsible for the growth of Ion Nitriding in North America, and make no mistake it is a growing technology as is gas nitriding. Advanced, like most captive and commercial heat treaters around the world is finding business to be excellent and while Gary was rather “coy” about his upcoming multiple equipment additions we should be able to give you some more details in the near future. The company has four locations in North America, two  in Waterloo, Iowa, one in Monroe, Michigan and one in Cullman, Alabama.”
See the entire post, as well as picture here:
http://themonty.com/heattreatnews.htm
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History of Ion Nitriding

Posted on January 3, 2012 by ahtblog

The history of ion nitriding dates back to its birth in 1932. A German physicist, Dr. Wehnheldt, was the first to develop ion nitriding; however, he was unable to control the glow discharge. By teaming up with the Swiss physicist, Dr. Bernhard Berghaus, they were able to develop ion nitriding into a usable, stabilized process. After WWII, electronics, plus the need for more superior metallurgical properties, contributed to increased popularity of ion nitriding among American industrialists. Dr. Claude Jones, Dr. Derek Sturges, and Stuart Martin helped advance ion nitriding in America by applying the process to a variety of parts as well as building the first ion nitrider in the U.S. As success stories filtered through American industry during the 1980′s, ion nitriding became a respected, preferred process for many manufacturers. Today, ion nitriding remains a favored heat treating process, and it continues to develop as the industry pushes for even more efficient, economical and environmentally safe heat treating process.

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When and Why Ion Nitriding/Nitrocarburizing Makes Good Sense

Posted on December 30, 2011 by ahtblog

Advanced Heat Treat staff Dr. Edward Roliński and Gary Sharp authored this article from Industrial Heating magazine, August 11, 2005:

“Ion nitriding can be used in many applications, but some are so unique that they can be called “the best” applications, where the competitive treatments such as salt bath and gas nitriding cannot easily duplicate the unique results of ion nitriding.

Ion, or plasma, nitriding has been studied and used industrially for more than 40 years [1-8], but the technology has not been used to its full potential. Ion nitriding/nitrocarburizing is a low temperature (800-1100˚F, or 430-595˚C) process, which results in little or no distortion of the treated parts even if significant residual compressive stress is induced to the surface layer of the treated products. The ion nitriding process also has been referred to by other surface treating characteristics including plasma, vacuum, diffusion, low nitriding potential, passive surfaces activating, easy-to-control structure and pollution-free processes. These process characteristics with the exception of the low nitriding potential concept are discussed in the literature.”

Click here to read the entire article:

http://www.industrialheating.com/Articles/Feature_Article/f022e50797cb7010VgnVCM100000f932a8c0

Learn more about the authors here www.ahtweb.com

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Gas Nitriding/Gas Nitrocarburizing

Posted on December 28, 2011 by ahtblog

Gas Nitriding or Gas Nitrocarburizing is a case-hardening process whereby nitrogen is introduced into the surface of a solid ferrous alloy by holding the metal at a suitable temperature in contact with a nitrogenous gas, usually ammonia.

Benefits include:

  • Extends part/tool life
  • Adds performance, fatigue strength and endurance
  • Enhances surface lubricity
  • Reduces erosion
  • Increases material flow in molds and dies
  • Improves corrosion resistance
  • No post-process machining
  • Improves wear resistance
  • Zero to minimal growth/distortion
  • Precise and versatile
  • Phase controllable compound zone

Recommended for:

  • Stainless steels
  • Tool steels
  • Powdered metals
  • Medium carbon steels

Learn more at: www.ahtweb.com

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Nitriding and Nitrocarburizing

Posted on December 16, 2011 by ahtblog
Nitriding and Nitrocarburizing are performed at lower temperatures than conventional heat treatments, which minimizes distortion.
These heat treatments improve wear resistance, fatigue strength, and corrosion resistance.

Nitriding/Nitrocarburizing Types:

  • Ion Nitriding (Plasma Nitriding / Nitrocarburizing)
  • Gas Nitriding (Gaseous Nitrocarburizing)
  • Salt-Bath Nitriding (Liquid)

Photo of Ion Nitriding:

For more information on these heat treatments, visitwww.ahtweb.com

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