A comparative study:: The effect of surface treatments on the tribological properties of Ti-6Al-4V alloy

The effect of different surface treatments on the wear resistance of Ti-6Al-4V alloy has been investigated. For this purpose, plasma nitriding treatment was performed in a gas mixture 75% N-2-25% Ar, for 1 h treatment lime and at 750 degrees C. The thin films were deposited using CFUMBS technique. The results showed that more surface roughness was obtained for nitrided specimens compared with thin film deposited specimens. It was also observed that both surface treatments improved the wear resistance of Ti-6Al-4V alloy. It was determined that plasma nitrided specimens exhibited excellent wear resistance compared with thin film deposited ones when applied load increased. Similar results were obtained from surface hardness measurements, and it was observed that load bearing capacity increased after plasma nitriding. The corrosion resistance of both surface treatments showed similar properties. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.