Alloying Element Nitride Development in Ferritic Fe-Based Materials Upon Nitriding: A Review

With the aim of achieving a better understanding of the nitriding process of iron-based components (steels), as applied in engineering practice, the theoretical background and experimental observations currently available on the crystallographic, morphological, and compositional properties of the nitride precipitates in nitrided model binary and ternary, ferritic Fe-based alloys are summarily presented. Thermodynamic and kinetic considerations are employed in order to highlight their importance for the nitriding reaction and the resulting properties of the nitrided zone, thereby providing a more fundamental understanding of the nitriding process.