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Microstructure and wear behavior of Ti-6Al-4V treated by plasma Zr-alloying and plasma nitriding

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Abstract

A duplex treatment of plasma Zr-alloying and plasma nitriding was used to improve the tribological properties of Ti-6Al-4V. The microstructure of the Zr-N composite (alloyed) layer formed on Ti-6Al-4V and its hardness, friction and wear properties were investigated by using OM, SEM, GDOES, EDS, microhardness tester as well as ball-on-disk tribometer. The results of microstructural analysis show that the alloyed layer is compact and uniform and is mainly composed of ZrN, TiN0.3 and AlN. A very tiny adhesive and slight oxidation wear is the primary wear mechanism for the modified Ti-6Al-4V. The tribological property is improved significantly after the duplex treatment. The good combination of antifriction and wear resistance for modified Ti-6Al-4V is mainly attributed to the higher surface hardness of metal nitrides formed on the surface and enhanced supporting of the Zr-diffusing layer.

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Correspondence to Xiaoping Liu  (刘小萍).

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Funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos.51474154,51401141,51501125) and the Provincial Natural Science Foundation of Shanxi (Nos.2014011015-7, 2014021017-3)

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Chen, K., Liu, X., Liu, X. et al. Microstructure and wear behavior of Ti-6Al-4V treated by plasma Zr-alloying and plasma nitriding. J. Wuhan Univ. Technol.-Mat. Sci. Edit. 31, 1086–1092 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11595-016-1494-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11595-016-1494-5

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