An Overview on Surface Hardening of Titanium Alloys by Diffusion of Interstitial Atoms

Abstract

In this paper, diffusional surface hardening processes utilized to overcome the poor tribological performance of titanium and its alloys is briefly introduced. More specifically, surface treatments known as thermal oxidation, nitriding and boriding offering the advantage of producing graded surfaces comprising hard compound layer and diffusion zone by diffusion of interstitial atoms (oxygen, nitrogen and boron) are overviewed.

Surface damage mitigation of Ti6Al4V alloy via thermal oxidation for oil and gas exploitation application: characterization of the microstructure and evaluation of the surface performance

“…Although the Ti6Al4V alloy is prone to form an oxide lm, the self-formed oxide lm was too thin to be reected by XRD, and only the Ti peaks were characterized. 73,74 Due to the interference of the incident light radiation and the thickness of the TO layer, the TO layer in this work presented a dark brown surface from macro observation, which was similar to Wang and Kumar et al's research. 43,47 Fig.…”

Improving the Adhesion of a Hard Oxide Layer on Ti6Al4V by a Three‐Step Thermal Oxidation Process

“…[ 1 ] While titanium alloys show excellent mechanical properties, good corrosion resistance, and biocompatibility, their tribological properties are described as poor. [ 2–4 ] To overcome this drawback, numerous surface modification techniques have been investigated. [ 4–8 ] A promising approach to improve the tribological properties of Ti6Al4V is thermal oxidation.…”

“…% in α‐titanium, [ 23 ] the oxide layer formation at elevated temperatures is accompanied by oxygen diffusion into the substrate, leading to an oxygen diffusion zone. [ 2 ]…”

“…[ 24 ] The hardness in the oxygen diffusion zone also decreases gradually from the oxide–substrate interface toward the softer substrate because the oxygen concentration in Ti6Al4V is correlated with the material hardness. [ 25 ] According to Güleryüz et al, [ 2 ] such graded surfaces with good adhesion characteristics have the potential to improve the wear behavior of Ti6Al4V.…”

Influence of Isothermal Oxidation on Corrosion Resistance of Titanium in Bovine Serum

“…The presence of spontaneous oxide film on the titanium surface is believed to be responsible for the nature of excellent corrosion resistance [5]. This passive oxide layer which makes them having a high biocompatibility [6], [7]. However, they have the limitation as very poor wear resistance due to the high and fickle friction coefficient [8].…”