Influence of Interstitial Oxygen on the Tribology of Ti6Al4V

Abstract

Titanium alloys are used for their good mechanical and corrosion properties, but generally experience poor wear behavior. This can effectively be counteracted by a thermal oxidation treatment, reducing wear significantly. Employing a special sample preparation, we study the transition of tribological properties between thermally oxidized and bulk Ti6Al4V on a single sample. While oxygen signal intensity and hardness followed an exponential decay from the surface to bulk material, tribological results showed a step-like transition from low to high friction and wear with increasing distance from the surface. Low wear was associated with minor abrasive marks, whereas high wear showed as severe adhesive material transfer onto the steel counter body. Besides the mechanical property of hardness, also a change in fracture behavior by interstitial oxygen could influence the observed tribological behavior.

Tribo-behavioural transition of Ti6Al4V as a function of sliding velocity and load under dry sliding conditions

“…high strength-to-weight ratio, biocompatibility and resistance to corrosion, which improves its adaptability to advanced applications. In efforts to improve the alloy's highly incompetent tribo-characteristics, researchers have shown enormous interest in Ti64 (especially tribologists) [1,2]. For Ti64, the wear characteristics (response and mechanisms) can significantly vary by the presence/formation of trace/large fraction of oxides at the mating zone.…”

Tribological Properties of Ti-TiC Composite Coatings on Titanium Alloys

“…The diffusion hardening of the surfaces of titanium alloys is carried out by saturating the surface layer of the specimens with oxygen, boron, nitrogen, carbon, silicon, etc. [7,21,22]. Coatings on the metal surface are produced by electroplating and chemical methods and precipitation from molten solutions or vapors [7,23].…”