Plasma Nitriding
The Plasma Nitriding process is used to increase the surface hardness of the functional surfaces of components, giving them greater resistance to wear.
When treating unalloyed and low-alloy steels, Plasma Nitriding can additionally increase the corrosion resistance of the treated parts.
HÄRTHA - WEISSENBURG - Competent partner for hardening processes
HÄRTHA - WEISSENBURG stands for perfect metal finishing through heat treatment processes and hardening techniques. The use of state-of-the-art process and control technology optimises Plasma Nitriding in the HÄRTHA hardening shops. The high degree of automation combined with the experience of the experts ensures the required quality and the properties of components desired by the plasma nitriding process.
The company is a valued heat treatment partner for over 1000 customers throughout Bavaria. The company's own logistics department guarantees the timely and flexible collection and delivery of the heat treatment goods.
"With the PlaTeG system from PVA Tepla AG, the package simply fitted"
In 2005, HÄRTHA decided to purchase its first Plasma Nitriding system. PlaTeG was among the suppliers.
"With the PlaTeG system from PVA Tepla AG, the package simply fitted," says Thomas Bückert, managing director of the company.
There are now 6 PlateG-PulsPlasma®Nitriding systems in the production hall at the Cadolzburg plant, and the seventh will be delivered shortly. All 7 systems will then be fully utilised. This makes HÄRTHA - WEISSENBURG one of the largest companies in Germany to have such a large number of Plasma Nitriding systems in one production hall.
According to Mr Bückert, the advantages of Plasma Nitriding are obvious:
- Gentle treatment of components, as they can be effectively plasma-nitrided from as low as 350°C, while conventional gas nitriding requires treatment temperatures of at least 480°C.
- Distortion and the dimensional change of components are kept low that reworking is often not necessary. This saves valuable production time and personnel capacity, and plasma-nitrided components are immediately ready for use.
- PulsPlasma®Nitriding uses environmentally friendly gases such as Nitrogen, Hydrogen, Argon and Oxygen, whereas gas nitriding requires the use of highly toxic ammonia.
In addition, in the case of partial nitriding of component surfaces, the areas that are not to be nitrided can simply be protected by metallic covers. In the simplest case, these can be steel screws that are screwed into the threads to be protected before plasma nitriding.
In contrast, gas nitriding requires the time-consuming application of special stop-off paints and their subsequent removal, e.g. by sandblasting. This eliminates two work steps at the same time.
HÄRTHA Weissenburg GmbH supplies customers in many industrial sectors. One focus is the treatment of parts for the automotive industry - especially for Hybrid technology and increasingly for e-mobility. However, companies in the aviation industry, medical technology and tool and mould manufacturers are also frequent and welcome customers.
After the second PlaTeG system was installed and the high system availability and process reliability were confirmed, the decision was clear: HÄRTHA will stay with this manufacturer - also in the future.
"The same processes can be run in every plant, we receive very good service and can always rely on PVA TePla," says Mario Neuwerth, the company's authorised signatory.
