Alternative Surface Activation Techniques When Nitriding Stainless Steels

Because of its qualities such as surface uniformity and high load density, controlled gas nitriding is recognized as one of the best techniques available for surface hardening of steels. It guarantees greater dimension and surface morphology stability, and therefore is applied to a variety of stainless steels components. Classical depassivation methods often contribute to a decreased corrosion resistance. In certain applications, alternative methods may be used to achieve the same extent of surface uniformity and similar results without the use of classical activation methods. In this work we present the investigation of different depassivation methods, their results and corresponding corrosion resistance values.