The liquid nitriding (Tufftride process) is being used for machine parts for improving fatigue strength and resistance to wear and seizure in cast iron. Silicon, which is dissolved in great amount in
α-iron of cast iron, has an important effect on the nitriding. In this study, Fe-Si and Fe-C-Si alloys were nitrided by Tufftride Process at 570°C for 1-6 hours for a basic study on the nitriding of cast iron.
The compound and diffusion zones in Fe-Si alloy were obtained by the nitriding. The compound zone consists of
ε(Fe
2-3N),
γ'(Fe
4N) and Si
3N
4. Nitrogen of
ε nitride was determined by X-ray diffraction and its value was estimated to be about 8%. The existence of Si
3N
4 in samples which were annealed at 700°C and extracted by ammonium persulphate solution was confirmed by means of X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy.
The values of maximum hardness in the compound and diffusion zones increased together with the increase of amount of silicon which forms a very fine Si
3N
4 compound. As the silicon content increased, the diffusion constant declined as a result of the reduction of compound and diffusion zones. Precipitate free zone has been found in the diffusion zone which was tempered at 300°C after being quenched from the nitriding temperature. This means that
γ' (Fe
4N) could not be precipitated from
α solid solution due to the lack of dissolved nitrogen. The width of compound zone and diffusion constant in Fe-C-Si alloy decreased in proportion to the silicon content; and their values were smaller than those in Fe-Si alloy.
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