Abstract
This article deals with the chemical composition and mechanical properties of plasma nitrided layers after chemical-heat treatment process. Experiments are focused on the creation of clusters of nitrogen on the surface of evaluated material. The peculiarity of this experiment is established sophisticated technological process suitable for creation of nitride layers inside cavities with really small diameters. The conditions of the process are designed to provide strictly defined nitride layers with defined parameters. In this case, the nitrided layers were applied to bars of steel 32CrMoV12-10 that were subsequently evaluated by metallographic, GDOES, XRD microanalysis and microhardness methods. The results of measurement showed trends of the chemical composition of alloying elements after chemical-heat treated process through the length of the cavity. Plasma nitriding process was applied for increasing of surface hardness of material in deep cavities. In the evaluation of surface structure the new typical marks on the surface of material after plasma nitriding process were found. Mechanical properties of evaluated material were significantly improved.

Key words
nitriding, chemical composition, microhardness, nitrided layer, clusters

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