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Abnormal Nitride Morphologies upon Nitriding Iron-Based Substrates

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Abstract

Nitriding of iron-based components is a very well-known surface engineering method for bringing about great improvement of the mechanical and chemical properties. An overview is presented of the strikingly different nitride morphologies developing upon nitriding iron-based alloy substrates. Observed abnormal morphologies are the result of intricate interplay of the thermodynamic and kinetic constraints for the nucleation and growth of both alloying element nitride particles in the matrix and iron nitrides at the surface of the substrate. Alloying elements having strong Me-N interaction, such as Cr, V, and Ti, precipitate instantaneously as internal Me-nitrides, thus allowing the subsequent nucleation and growth of “normal” layer-type iron nitride. Alloying elements having weak Me-N interaction, such as Al, Si, and Mo, and simultaneously having low solubility in iron nitride, obstruct/delay the nucleation and growth of iron nitrides at the surface, thus leading to very high nitrogen supersaturation over an extended depth range from the surface. Eventually, the nucleation and growth of “abnormal” plate-type iron nitride occurs across the depth range of high nitrogen supersaturation. On this basis, strategies can be devised for tuned development of specific nitride morphologies at the surface of nitrided components.

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Notes

  1. The N content in surplus of the sum of the N associated with the Me x N y precipitates \( (\left[ {\text{N}} \right]_{{{\text{Me}}_{x} {\text{N}}_{y} }}) \) and the equilibrium N solubility of the unstrained ferrite matrix \( \left( {\left[ {\text{N}} \right]_{{\alpha - {\text{Fe}}}}^{o} } \right) \) is called “excess nitrogen,”39 which is taken up as (I) additionally dissolved N in the ferrite matrix due to the hydrostatic component of the misfit-strain field around the nitride precipitates and (II) adsorbed N at the nitride-precipitate/ferrite-matrix interface.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Mrs. S. Haug for EPMA measurements and Prof. Dr. P. van Aken for providing access to transmission electron microscopy facilities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (Formerly Max Planck Institute for Metals Research), Heisenbergstrasse 3, 70569, Stuttgart, Germany

    Sai Ramudu Meka & Eric Jan Mittemeijer

  2. Institute for Materials Science, University of Stuttgart, Heisenbergstrasse 3, 70569, Stuttgart, Germany

    Eric Jan Mittemeijer

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  1. Sai Ramudu Meka
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  2. Eric Jan Mittemeijer
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Correspondence to Sai Ramudu Meka.

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Meka, S.R., Mittemeijer, E.J. Abnormal Nitride Morphologies upon Nitriding Iron-Based Substrates. JOM 65, 769–775 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-013-0603-6

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