Friction and wear properties modification of Ti–6Al–4V alloy surfaces by implantation of multi-charged carbon ions

• Development of a new method for surface modifications.
• Study of surface properties enhancement by carbon ion irradiation.
• Tribological property of titanium alloy Ti–6AL–4V is improved due to the presence of a graphitic carbon layer.

Carbon implantation into titanium is known to enhance some of its surface properties like wear behavior, mechanical hardness or the friction coefficient. Therefore the method is a candidate to be applied as a powerful surface engineering tool for titanium alloys. Recently, a new implantation technique has been developed, which is based on a compact particle accelerator device that is easy to handle. The device allows simultaneous multi-charged ion-implantation (from C+ up to C4+) in order to get a plateau like implantation profile based on the energetic distribution. The aim of this study is to investigate microstructural modifications of the near surface region of Ti–6Al–4V due to this processing technology and to enhance the surface performance. Nanoindentation and tribological measurements revealed a threshold of critical C contents where friction coefficient and wear are significantly reduced. Furthermore, these enhancements have been correlated to the presence of additional graphitic carbon.

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