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| Plasma Combination Treatment - IONIT OX® Process |
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Process Description
The patented IONIT OX® process represents a combination of thermochemical processes, gas nitro-carburizing, plasma activation (plasma nitro-carburizing) and oxidizing. In the nitro-carburizing step, ammonia and carbon dioxide gases, the source of the nitrogen and carbon, are introduced in a highly controlled manner to form a nitriding white layer and diffusion zone with a well-defined structure and phase composition.
IONIT OX® produces a compound consisting of an oxide layer,
white layer and diffusion layer.
Subsequent activation of the nitrided surface is performed during plasma nitro-carburizing by bombarding the component surface with nitrogen, hydrogen and carbon ions. Similar to the IONIT® process technology, a gas discharge is ignited, and the positively charged gas ions are accelerated toward the substrate. The partial reaction from solid-state atomization, which removes surface dust and other residues that remain from the preceding gas nitro-carburizing step, are important to subsequent oxidation.
Sulzer Metaplas IONIT OX® System
The final oxidation step produces a homogeneous oxide layer approximately 2 µm (0.00008 in.) thick that provides superior corrosion protection, wear protection and favorable friction characteristics. Thus this environmentally-friendly technique is ideally suited for replacing surface treatments based on electroplating.
IONIT OX® Process Sequence
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