Objective In the light of the progress made during the first two years, it was agreed at the Mid-Term Review to refocus the technical thrust of the Project during the second two-year period, putting experimental emphasis on the active screen plasma nitriding (ASPN) and plasma immersion ion implantation processes. It became clear early during the second two-year period of the project that reproducible RE-additions could not be developed for the plasma thermochemical processing methods employed here. This rendered some of the deliverables futile and necessitated modification of the original work plan in line with the decisions made at the Mid-Term Review. Since it became clear that it would be impossible to generate statistically useful data about the mechanical (fracture, tribological and contact fatigue) properties of RE-nitrided components or to develop software packages to predict machine element performance or residual stress development. These tasks were therefore cancelled and their loss was compensated for with an additional task, which was an extended plasma species study. The investigations into ASPN processing were also extended to incorporate properties evaluation of steel specimens nitrided with and without RE-additions, thus linking more directly with BRRT-CT98-5082 - New Efficient Steel Technologies (NEST).Objectives and content Surface engineering has been shown over the past two decades to be the most technical and cost effective way of improving the surface properties of materials and thus combat surface degradation problems. The most important recent development in rare earth technology has been in the field of surface engineering, in particular, thermochemical treatments by Chinese scientists, which has only recently come to the attention of western scientists. The overall objective of the proposed research program is to investigate the influence of rare earth additions on the kinetics and properties of various plasma thermochemical processes currently widely used in industry, with the aims of improving efficiency, quality and productivity, as well as reducing energy consumption. Accordingly, the project seeks to adapt existing technology for improved competitive leverage. The thermochemical processes to be investigated are the plasma nitriding and nitrocarburising surface engineering technologies. The specific objectives of the proposed program are: to develop gaseous and vapour techniques for incorporating rare earths via the wholly environmentally friendly plasma thermochemical route; to investigate the influence of rare earth additions on the kinetics of layer growth, in the catalytic effect of rare earths, with a view to obtaining up to a 50% reduction in processing time for a specific case depth; to investigate the alloying effects of rare earths and to evaluate the processing of the alloyed layers with a view to improving, for example, rolling contact fatigue resistance by 20%; to produce software packages for the predictive performance of machine elements, such as bearings and gears, after rare earth treatment. Fields of science natural sciencescomputer and information sciencessoftwaresocial scienceseconomics and businesseconomicsproduction economicsproductivitynatural scienceschemical sciencesphysical chemistrythermochemistry Programme(s) FP4-BRITE/EURAM 3 - Specific research and technological development programme in the field of industrial and materials technologies, 1994-1998 Topic(s) 0101 - Incorporation of new technologies into production systems Call for proposal Data not available Funding Scheme CSC - Cost-sharing contracts Coordinator UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM Address Elms road, edgbaston B15 2TT Birmingham United Kingdom See on map EU contribution € 0,00 Participants (4) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all ATELIERS NIC GEORGES, SUCC ATELIERS GEORGES SARL ET CIE C.E.C.S Luxembourg EU contribution € 0,00 Address 194,route de thionville 194 1817 Luxembourg See on map NITRUVID SNC France EU contribution € 0,00 Address 9,rue jean poulmarch 9 zi du val 95100 Argenteuil See on map NSK-RHP European Technology Company Ltd United Kingdom EU contribution € 0,00 Address Mere way ruddington NG11 6JZ Nottingham See on map Technische Universität Clausthal Germany EU contribution € 0,00 Address 6,agricolastraße 38678 Clausthal - zellerfeld See on map
