Modification of the structure of surface layers of commercial titanium in the process of treatment by low-energy high-current electron beams

Methods of optical, atomic-force, and transmission and scanning electron microscopy, as well as X-ray diffraction analysis have been used to study the effect of electron-beam treatment on the surface morphology and structure of titanium of grade VT1-0. It has been shown that irradiation by three electron pulses with an energy density in the beam of W = 12-24 J/cm(2) and a pulse duration of 50 mu s leads to the formation of VT1-0 samples of a multilayer structure in the surface layers that consist of fine particles of the alpha phase, which have a subgrain structure, and of the underlying coarse grains, which contain alpha' martensitic phase. The influence of the density of energy of the electron beam on the hardness and the magnitude of microand macrostresses that develop in the modified surface layer has been demonstrated. The results of calculating the thermal fields that appear in the process of treatment by electron beam are presented.