A vehicle contains thousands of material components produced by a wide variety of technologies and applications. Each of these technologies or applications ensures that the components satisfy customer needs and withstand wear and tear for years. As a continuation of last month’s blog on nitriding we will delve deeper into the use of this application in the automotive industry.

Typical components heat treated with a nitriding furnace in the automotive industry include gears, crankshafts, springs, camshafts, and valve parts. Nitriding is also important in the manufacture of extrusion screws, die-cast tooling, aluminum-extrusion dies, forging dies, injectors, and plastic molds.

When manufacturers in the automotive industry want to improve the wear resistance of small cross-section parts and parts that easily lose their shape, they turn to nitriding. Heat treating in a nitriding furnace improves fatigue resistance and wear properties on bearings used on high-performance automotive crankshafts, for example.

Nitriding also enhances fatigue resistance to protect automotive springs from premature failure. Piston rings that have been heat treated in a nitriding furnace demonstrate high surface hardness even at high temperatures. These rings also show good sliding wear resistance with a low coefficient of friction.

Atmospheric conditions and corrosive environments cause wear and corrosion on small shafts. Nitriding improves wear and corrosion properties in shafts, and results in an attractive appearance. Fuel injectors are heat treated in a nitriding furnace to create the high wear-resistant surface they need to prevent abrasion inflicted by a high-velocity fuel system.

The automotive industry has used nitriding furnaces to strengthen parts, molds and dies for decades. Innovations in nitriding make the process even more effective in manufacturing strong, resilient vehicles. Lindberg/MPH nitriding pit furnaces have been shipped to countless manufacturers within the automotive industry. Lindberg/MPH pit furnaces offer fast, efficient cooling, a clean operation, nominal maintenance, a long service life, and more. Read about the benefits and features on the Lindberg/MPH website. Be sure to follow Lindberg/MPH on both Facebook and LinkedIn for more information and product updates!