Effect of plasma nitriding treatment of stainless steel cutlery on cutting performance - Study on improvement of cutting performance of cutlery

The demand of more accurate and durable cutting edge has increased for high-performance cutlery such as razor blades and surgical knives. A plasma nitriding with high density plasma can be achieved by installing a hollow cathode, and the cutlery surface can be cleaned, etched, heated up and nitrided effectively, which would decrease the surface damage and increase the surface hardness of stainless steel. In this study, the durability and cutting performance of stainless steel cutlery treated by plasma nitriding were investigated in order to evaluate the applicability of plasma nitriding to the surface treatment of cutting edge. The experimental results made it clear that the durability of cutting edge could be improved by the plasma nitriding, since the wear of cutting edge decreased with increasing the process time and temperature.