Nitriding and Nitrocarburising
Nitriding and nitrocarburizing are respectively the processes in which nitrogen (N) and nitrogen+carbon (N+C) are added into the steel surface to increase the surface hardness and surface wear resistance, resulting in longer die life.
In nitriding, nitrogen is introduced while the steel is in the ferrite condition instead of in the austenite phase as in the case of nitrocarburising.
Nitriding may have a detrimental effect on the corrosion resistance of the stainless steel in some cases. Appropriate steel to be nitrided is usually medium-carbon steel with nitride-forming elements such as chromium, aluminium, molybdenum and vanadium.