Once the heating and carbon diffusion part of the process are complete it is necessary to rapidly quench the components to a defined alloy recipe. The recipe will specify the quench method, the quenchant temperature and time.
The purpose of the quench process is to provide the required hardness of the component by completing a Martensitic phase change in the alloy.
Gas carburizing and other surface chemistry treatments can be carried out in batch or continuous furnaces dependent on the parts under treatment and the user requirements.
Eurotherm provides solutions for both types of furnace, as well as other metal treating processes such as:
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Nitriding
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Carbonitriding
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Nitrocarburizing
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Tempering
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Stress relieving
Nitriding
Nitriding is a low distortion thermochemical process conducted at temperatures between 480-560°C. In the case of nitriding the active gas is often produced by cracking ammonia in the furnace to release the nascent species of nitrogen having first purged the furnace with nitrogen.
Nitriding control can be run on the 3504 controller, with output from an external hydrogen sensor. The 3504 displays both Kn (nitriding potential) and dissociated ammonia
values, and is able to use either variable to control the nitriding process.
