The effect of nitrogen ion implantation on nano-scale hardness and elastic modulus of WC-Co indexable knives for wood materials machining

Abstract

The effect of nitrogen ion implantation on nano-scale hardness and elastic modulus of WC-Co indexable knives for wood materials machining. The paper presents the results of a study investigating the effects of nitrogen ion implantation into the surface layer of WC-Co blades, used for machining wood materials, on their hardness and modulus of elasticity at the nano-scale. The modified blades were analyzed in six variants of implantation process parameters, and compared with control blades (virgin, unmodified). Three energies of accelerating nitrogen ions were used in the implantation process (5, 50 and 500 keV) and two doses of implanted ions (1e17 and 5e17 cm-2). The nano-hardness and elastic modulus of all blades were measured using an Anton Paar TriTec (UNHT) hardness tester.