Multidisciplinary instrumental approach to analyse the effects of carburizing and carbonitriding thermochemical processes to maximize the full spectrum of process efficiency.

Thermochemical treatments take advantage of the phenomenon of solid-phase diffusion in order to modify the chemical composition of the surface layer of the alloys and give them certain properties, such as hardness, resistance to wear, resistance to oxidation and fatigue resistance. In fact, this type of treatment is intended to absorb through the surface of a component a foreign chemical element, to give to the surface itself a high degree of hardness.

The aim of this work is to evaluate the parameters described above by developing a multidisciplinary analytical method that can correlate information from measures of hardness, diffusion of nitrogen and carbon contents, residual Stress and residual austenite from the surface to the core of the material.

The combination of these comparative analysis will allow us to cross reference between data and in order to make specific modifications to optimize the processes. All of this information is important to develop effective heat treatments for the mechanical characteristics of the component, as well as its effectiveness, likely reducing processing time, energy costs and environmental impact.