A New Approach for Digital Controlled Power Supplies Regarding Pulsed Plasma Nitriding Systems

Inhalt:
Nitriding in plasma is a power-saving technology that provides thermochemical heat treatment used for metallic workpieces in order to improve their mechanical characteristics like hardness and resistance to wear. This paper describes the new implementation of a microcontroller based platform for pulsed Power Supplies used in Plasma Nitriding Systems (PNS). A programmable hardware was integrated into an existing PNS to optimize the control signals and its flexibility for the high voltage switch (IGBT). Furthermore, comprehensive R&D work as well as according practical implementations were done to set up a microcontroller based feedback control, measurement and monitoring of the current flowing in the load circuit during the treatment process with the objective of completely preventing over currents caused by arc discharge and so leading to a significant improvement of power quality.