Parameter Optimization of Nitriding Process Using Chemical Kinetics

Using the dynamics of chemical kinetics, an investigation to search for an optimum condition for a gas nitriding process is performed over the solution space spanned by the initial temperature and gas composition of the furnace. For a two-component furnace atmosphere, the results are presented in temporal variations of gas concentrations and the nitrogen coverage on the surface. It seems that the exploitation of the nitriding kinetics can provide important feedback for setting the model-based control algorithms. The present work shows that when the nitrogen gas concentration is not allowed to exceed 6 pct, the N_ad coverage can attain maximum values as high as 0.97. The time evolution of the N_ad coverage also reveals that, as long as the temperature is above the value where nitrogen poisoning of the surface due to the low-temperature adsorption of excess nitrogen occurs, the initial ammonia content in the furnace atmosphere is much more important in the nitriding process than is the initial temperature.