Analysis of plasma nitrided steels

The analysis of plasma nitrided steels can be divided to two main categories - structural and chemical. Structural analysis can provide information not only on the hardening mechanisms but also on the fundamental processes involved. Chemical analysis can be used to study the kinetics for the nitriding process and its mechanisms. In this paper preliminary results obtained by several techniques of both categories are presented and the applicability of those techniques to the analysis of plasma-nitrided steels is discussed.