Finite Element Modeling and Experimental Verification of Nitriding Process in S30C Steel

A mathematical model has been developed to simulate the nitriding process of plain carbon steel, considering the simultaneous diffusion of nitrogen in different iron-nitrogen (Fe-N) phases and the precipitation dynamics of ?' and ? iron-nitride. The model can predict the distribution of nitrogen concentration, volume fraction of Fe-N phases and hardness. Furthermore, a finite element method (FEM) post-process technology is presented to avoid the limit of FEM mesh improvement and time-saving. The uniform-sum-division algorithm is adopted as local refinement algorithm (LRA) of meshes. The modified inverse distance weighting (IDW) method is used to interpolate the FEM simulated results. Then, the nitriding model and post-process technology are incorporated within the framework of the developed FEM code COSMAP (COmputer Simulation of MAnufacturing Process) based on metallo-thermo-mechanical theory. In order to validate the nitriding model and FEM post-process technology, the nitriding process of S30C steel is modeled by COSMAP software. The simulated distributions of nitrogen content and hardness are consistent with the measured ones. In addition, the simulated results at different mesh size are compared for two-dimensional model. It is indicated that the interpolated results agree well with the simulated results of fine mesh model and the experimental ones.