What is "carbonitriding"

vb. (present participle of carbonitride English)

Carbonitriding is a metallurgical surface modification technique that is used to increase the surface hardness of a metal, thereby reducing wear.

During the process, atoms of carbon and nitrogen diffuse interstitially into the metal, creating barriers to slip, increasing the hardness and modulus near the surface. Carbonitriding is often applied to inexpensive, easily machined low carbon steel to impart the surface properties of more expensive and difficult to work grades of steel. Surface hardness of carbonitrided parts ranges from 55 to 62 HRC.

Certain pre-industrial case hardening processes include not only carbon-rich materials such as charcoal, but nitrogen-rich materials such as urea, which implies that traditional surface hardening techniques were a form of carbonitriding.