Effect of nitrogen high temperature plasma based ion implantation on the creep behavior of Ti-6Al-4V alloy

Nitrogen high temperature plasma based ion implantation (HTPBII) performed on Ti-6Al-4V significantly improved the creep behavior of the alloy. Treatments were performed for 1 h at a working pressure of 4 mbar and negative high voltage pulses of 7.5 kV, 30 μs and 500 Hz were applied on the specimens heated at 800 °C and 900 °C, respectively. Microstructural characterization of the treated samples revealed the formation of nitrided layers, with simultaneous formation of TiN and Ti2N. The most intense peaks of these compounds were obtained at higher treatment temperature, probably due to the diffusion of nitrogen into titanium. The presence of nitrides caused surface hardening up to three times higher in comparison with untreated alloy. Constant load creep tests were conducted on a standard creep machine in air atmosphere, at stress level of 319 MPa at 600 °C. Significant reductions of the steady-state creep rates (ɛ) were measured for martensitic Ti-6Al-4V treated by nitrogen HTPBII, reaching minimum creep rates of 0.0318 h−1 in comparison with 0.1938 h−1 for untreated sample. The improvement of the creep resistance seems to be associated with the formation of a thick nitrided layer, which acts as a barrier to oxygen diffusion into the material. In addition, the increase of the grain size generated by the heating of the substrate during the treatment can affect some creep mechanisms, leading to a significant reduction of ɛ.