Influence of Surface Preparation on the Kinetics of Controlled Gas-Nitrided AISI H13 Steels Used in Extrusion Dies

Abstract

In the aluminum extrusion practice, gas nitriding represents an important factor in enhancing the service life of AISI H13 steel dies. It is observed that if the die-bearing surface is not adequately prepared before nitriding, a nonuniform and shallow nitrided layer develops with reduced hardening effect. The focus of this paper is to investigate the influence of different surface conditions in terms of roughness on the kinetics of nitrided layer developed during gas-nitriding process under controlled nitriding potential. Four samples made of AISI H13 steel properly heat treated (quenched and tempered) were considered: without surface preparation, ground, polished, and lapped. All the samples were gas nitrided under the same conditions and examined after being nitrided. The nitrided layers were characterized using different techniques including optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction analysis, energy dispersive spectrometry mapping, and microhardness analysis. It was found that the surface preparation prior to nitriding significantly enhanced the nitriding kinetics, which in turn resulted in even and deep nitrided case depth. This provided high load-bearing capacity due to increased and deep hardening effect as compared to unprepared sample. A thinner and uniform compound layer with well-resolved phases was achieved in comparison with unprepared sample.