Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 February 2011
Hot work tool steel was plasma nitrided in a PVD apparatus. Phases occurring and nitrogen depth profiles were assessed for the nitrided specimens. In all cases bright nitriding was achieved. Increasing the nitriding time from 15 to 120 min yielded a nitriding depth increasing from about 15 to 35 μm, whereas the nitrogen flux decreased from 8.0 to 5.5 × 10-7 kg s-1m-2. Results from an existing model, predicting nitrogen depth profiles due to plasma nitriding, did not accurately describe the experimental data. Therefore the existing model cannot be used straightforwardly to predict the formation of iron nitrides. The discrepancies of model results and experimental results are discussed in view of the assumptions underlying the model for plasma nitriding.