A glow discharge is generated in a dilute mixed atmosphere of several hundreds of Pa of nitrogen and hydrogen, and the object to be processed is heated and nitrided by the impact of ions at this time. This method is different from the traditional nitriding method, and can be widely used in various mechanical parts, precision parts, etc., mainly automobile parts.

Nitrocarburizing is developed on liquid nitriding substrates, and the salt bath used is a highly toxic cyanide salt. In order to improve the activity of the salt bath and accelerate the nitriding and carburizing process, air or oxygen is introduced, that is, the oxidation process is generated to increase the activity of nitrogen and carbon atoms. Due to the serious pollution caused by cyanide, it has developed into nitrocarburizing with urea as the main component. Although highly toxic cyanide is not used, there are still cyanate radicals in the salt bath, and the composition of the salt bath is unstable during use. The application of the infiltration process is limited. The gas nitrocarburizing process is widely used because of its low processing temperature (generally 500-600 ℃), mainly nitriding and carburizing, and the performance after infiltration is more ideal than single nitriding or carburizing. 

Nitriding or nitrocarburizing changes the state of the structure, and thus also changes the strength, friction, formability and corrosion properties of the steel material under static load and alternating stress. When the treatment temperature is lower than 600°C, the microstructure transformation does not occur like austenite quenching, so that cooling can be carried out at an arbitrary rate without the appearance of martensite. Compared to quenching, the size and shape changes of nitrided parts and tools are minimal. As a result, post-processing treatments can be simplified or eliminated entirely, and, in addition, the energy consumption is slightly lower than with other heat treatments. In all industrial fields, the application of nitriding or nitrocarburizing to improve strength, wear resistance and corrosion resistance has been widely used in technology.