Size effects of gas nitriding of injection molded Titanium parts

In this study, gas nitriding was performed to various sizes of Titanium parts which were produced by metal injection molding (MIM) process, in order to add the high functionality with low processing cost. It was shown from the experiments that the nitriding treatment was useful for increasing the hardness of the surface which microstructure changed to the TiN and acicular α-Ti phase. With respect to the effect on the size of parts, micro dumbbell specimen had around five times higher content of nitrogen than block ones. It was suggested that the size of μ-MIM products is so small that the surface treatment contribute significantly and easily to improve the properties, especially gas nitriding process is one of effective surface treatment methods for high functionality of μ-MIM products.