Defects encountered in nitriding of manganese and manganese-aluminum austenitic steels

Conclusions

• 1. Mn−Al austenitic steel must consist of small grains to prevent the crumbling out of the nitrided layer. Therefore, heat treatment and thermomechanical treatment conditions must be such that the grain size on the nitrided surfaces of articles is not larger than grade 5 (GOST 5639-51).

• 2. A tight hermetic seal of the system during cooling is necessary to prevent the formation of cracks along the grain boundaries.

• 3. The samples should be cooled in the absence of ammonia after nitriding in order to prevent scaling.