Thermochemical surface treatment of titanium

Abstract

AbstractTitanium has very poor tribological properties. Various coatings can be used, for example, TiN, to improve them, but the loading is limited by the low strength of the substrate. Thermochemical treatments produce a layer that is sufficiently thick to support a load, but have to be carried out at high temperatures, 950 and 1050°C, for oxidation and nitriding processes respectively, degrading the core properties. An alternative treatment is desirable that could produce a substantive load bearing layer with good wear properties at 850°C or lower. The obvious candidate species were oxygen, nitrogen and carbon to form hardened diffusion layers, under a thin TiO2, TiN or TiC surface layer. Nitrogen was not found to be sufficiently active at lower treatment temperature to have any beneficial effects and tended to block the diffusion of other species. Layers formed using various sources of nascent nitrogen, carbon and oxygen were studied. It was found that all the species forming hardened surface layers wi...