Ferritic nitrocarburized part and methods of making and using the same

A product comprising:

• a parent steel that is cold-rolled and subcritically annealed;
• a compound zone disposed on the parent steel to form a ferritic nitrocarburized part, and the compound zone includes a nitride layer disposed on the parent steel;
• wherein the nitride layer includes epsilon iron nitride, Fe2-3N, and gamma prime iron nitride Fe4N;
• and
• wherein the ferritic nitrocarburized part has a tensile strength that exceeds that of the parent steel.

A method comprising:

• providing a part that includes a parent steel material;
• preheating the part to about 400° C. 500° C. for about 2-4 hours;
• subcritically annealing the part that includes heating that part to about 500° C. 725° C. for about 1-5 hours and cooling the part to about 350° C.-500° C.;
• heating the part to about 500° C.-650° C.;
• ferritic nitrocarburizing the part at about 500° C.-650° C. to form an iron nitride layer on a surface of the part;
• cooling the part to provide a ferritic nitrocarburized part that includes the parent steel material, wherein the ferritic nitrocarburized part has a tensile strength exceeding that of the parent steel material, and the ferritic nitrocarburized part has characteristics of ductility, bendability, and flangeability to support subsequent flanging and press-fitting of bushings;
• and
• wherein ferritic nitrocarburizing the part includes forming a compound zone and a surface at an outer edge of the compound zone, wherein the surface at the outer edge is configured for engagement with a corresponding friction material, and wherein the compound zone includes a nitride layer having epsilon iron nitride, Fe2-3N and gamma prime iron nitride Fe4N.