4. Conclusion

The application of high contact pressure or higher operating temperatures leads to a significant drop in hardness and hardening depth. These developments severely degrade the endurance limit of mechanical parts. It is therefore necessary to work with metallurgical structures that are more stable from a thermal point of view, like nitriding, and the opposite of case-hardening in terms of residual stresses and hardness profiles.

This article complements the one on the role of additive elements in the hardening of carbonitrided parts with a high nitrogen content [RE 280]...