Title: Modelling and simulation of nitriding process in SCM420 steel

Authors: Xiaohu Deng; Dongying Ju

Addresses: National-Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of Intelligent Manufacturing Oriented Automobile Die and Mold, Tianjin Key Laboratory of High Speed Cutting and Precision Machining, Tianjin University of Technology and Education, Dagunan Load No. 1310, Hexi District, Tianjin, 300222, China ' Advanced Science Laboratory, Saitama Institute of Technology, Fusaiji 1690, Fukaya, 369-0293, Japan

Abstract: In order to predict the nitrogen diffusion, phase transformation and hardness during nitriding process of the complicated steel workpiece. A coupled model that combines a multi-physical field theory with a finite element method (FEM) has been developed to simulate the nitriding process. It is considered the interaction among diffusion, transformation and temperature in multi-physical field model. A phenomenological model is presented to simulate the microstructural evolution of the nitride layer. The distribution of nitrogen concentration is calculated using a customised finite element program called computer simulation of manufacturing process (COSMAP). The model can predict nitrogen content, iron-nitrogen phase compositions and hardness. To validate the coupled model, the nitriding process of SCM420 cylinder and helical gear is simulated. It can be concluded that the present model can reflect the geometrical effect of the complex workpieces during the nitriding process. The simulated results are consistent reasonably with the available experimental results and the theoretical conclusions.

Keywords: nitriding; low alloy steel; multi-field; finite element.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMMP.2017.092167

International Journal of Microstructure and Materials Properties, 2017 Vol.12 No.5/6, pp.415 - 426

Received: 30 Jun 2017
Accepted: 12 Feb 2018
Published online: 06 Jun 2018 *

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