Modeling of the Plasma Nitriding Process

Abstract

Knowing that the reactive species are N and N₂ (X, v) (1–3), we have developed a mathematical model of the plasma nitriding process, based on the fact that the most numerous particles in the plasma are the N₂ (X, v=0, 1, 2, 3, 4) molecules, and that their creation is mainly due to electronic collisions on the molecular ground state N₂ (X, v=0) (4). Taking into account these mechanisms, we have numerically solved a set of coupled differential equations: the continuity and energy conservation equations for the gas, Poisson’s equation and the mass conservation equations for the species N₂ (X, v=0, 1, 2, 3, 4).