Simultaneous plasma nitriding and ageing treatments of precipitation hardenable plastic mould steel

Simultaneous nitriding and ageing heat treatments of precipitation hardenable tool steel was carried out inside a DC-pulsed plasma nitriding reactor. A single heat treatment cycle was done, as the plasma nitriding and age hardening processes occur approximately at the same ranges of temperatures and times. Specimens of Cr–Ni–Mo–Al age hardenable steel, in the solubilized and solubilized and aged conditions, were tested. Plasma nitriding and ageing, carried out at 500 °C for times ranging between 2 and 8 h, increased the surface hardness up to 1000 HV, producing case depths between 100 and 200 μm. The core hardness of solubilized samples increased from 30 to 39 Rockwell C after the plasma nitriding treatment proving the possibility of nitriding and ageing at the same treatment cycle. The pre-aged samples did not show any overageing after the simultaneous plasma nitriding and ageing treatments. The corrosion resistance after plasma nitriding increases when the compound layer is formed.