Analysis of mechanical properties of steel 1045 plasma nitriding: with and without tempering

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the possibility of tempering during the nitriding of AISI 1045 steel. The objective was to evaluate the possibility of eliminating this phase, with the nitriding properties remaining unaltered. For this, three parameter samples were compared: quenched, tempered and nitrided for 2h; quenching and nitrided for 2h and quenching and nitrided for 4h. The analysis techniques used for characterizing the samples before and after nitriding were optical microscopy, hardness Rockwell C (HRC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD). Results showed that phase γ is the most favorable of all parameters tested. The hardness assays showed that samples with different initial hardness (with and without tempering) and even nitriding time showed similar mechanical properties. This fact suggests that the tempering process occurred parallel to the nitriding process. (author)