Post-Discharge Nitriding: Mathematical Modeling and Numerical Simulation of the Layer Growth

Nitriding by microwave post-discharge process involves molecular nitrogen dissociation. It has been observed that nitrogen flux from surface to solid during the early stage does not follow a parabolic regime and that the growth rate of concomitant nitride layers is sensitive to atomic nitrogen concentration on the surface. In this work a mathematical model has been developed in order to describe the kinetics of the compound layer formation during a post-discharge nitriding process. The model is related to a moving boundary value problem and considers different stages: diffusion process, formation of the layers, layer growth and quasi-stabilization of the layer growth. Natural conditions on the nitrogen concentration consistent with the mass transfer mechanism are assumed. An analytical approximate solution of Goodman’s type is sought and numerical simulation is conducted to study the nitride layer growth.