Surface engineering of Ti–6Al–4V by nitriding and powder alloying using CW CO 2 laser

Abstract

A comparison has been made of the laser processing of Ti–6Al–4V (IMI318) alloy by (a) nitriding under a dilute atmosphere, (b) preplacing 6 μm SiC powder and (c) a combination of (a) and (b). At least six laser tracks were overlapped. Microhardness maps allowed details of the variation in hardness with both melt depth and track number to be determined. The microstructure was characterised and related to the processing parameters, melt track dimensions, hardness and roughness data. It was found that the preheating generated due to the overlapping, influenced the individual track dimensions, microstructure and properties, which were also affected by the laser energy density and the nitrogen concentration in the nitriding atmosphere used in processing. Process (b) was shown to produce the smoothest surfaces, with R_a values<2 μm, while (c) gave the highest R_a value, 8·6 μm. These results are considered together with a wide range of data in the literature on laser processed Ti–6Al–4V.

Keywords

CW CO2 LASER SURFACE PROCESSING TITANIUM ALLOYS MICROSTRUCTURE MICROHARDNESS SURFACE ROUGHNESS OVERLAPPING PREHEAT

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

‘ASM handbook’, Vol. 18, 32; 1992, Metals Park, OH, ASM International.

Ion

J. C.

: ‘Laser processing of engineering materials’, 261-326; 2005, Oxford, Elsevier.

Tian

Y. S.

, Chen

C. Z.

, Li

S. T.

and Huo

Q. H.

: Appl. Surf Sci., 2005, 31, 177–184.

Katayama

, Matsunawa

, Morimoto

, Ishimoto

and Arata

: Proc. 5th Int. Conf. on ‘Applied laser electro-optics’, Los Angeles, CA, USA, 127-134; 1983, Laser Institute of America.

Walker

, Folkes

, Steen

W. M.

and West

D. R. F.

: J. Surf Eng., 1985, 1, 23–29.

Bell

, Bergmann

H. W.

, Lanagan

, Morton

P. H.

and Staines

A. M.

: J. Surf Eng., 1985, 2, 133–143.

Ubhi

H. S.

, Baker

T. N.

, Holdway

and Bowen

A. W.

: Proc. 6th World Conf. on ‘Titanium’, (ed.

Lacombe

.), 1687-1692; 1988, Cedex, Les Ulis.

Mridha

and Baker

T. N.

: Mater. Sci. Eng. A, 1991, A142, 115–124.

Mridha

and Baker

T. N.

: Mater. Sci. Eng. A, 1994, A188, 229–239.

10.

Weerasinghe

V. M.

, West

D. R. F.

and de Damborenea

: J. Mater. Process. Technol., 1996, 58, 79–86.

11.

Laurens

, Enfant

H. L.

, St Catherine

M. C.

, Bléchet

J. J.

and Amouroux

: Thin Solid Films, 1997, 293, 220–226.

12.

Enfant

H. L.

, Laurens

, St Catherine

M. C.

, Dubois

and Amouroux

: Surf Coat. Technol., 1997, 6, 169–175.

13.

, Xin

, Watson

L. M.

and Baker

T. N.

: Acta Mater., 1997, 45, 4311–4322.

14.

Ettaqi

, Hays

, Hantzpergue

J. J.

, Saindrenan

and Remy

J. C.

: Surf Coat. Technol., 1998, 100-101, 428–432.

15.

Fou

and Batchelor

A. W.

: Wear, 1998, 214, 83–90.

16.

Nwobu

A. I. P.

, Rawlings

R. D.

and West

D. R. F.

: Acta Mater., 1999, 47, 631–643.

17.

Ayers

J. D.

, Schaffer

R. T.

and Robey

W. P.

: J. Metal., 1981, 33, 19–23.

18.

Ayers

J. D.

and Bolster

R. N.

: Wear, 1984, 93, 193–205.

19.

Abboud

J. H.

and West

D. R. F.

: Mater. Sci. Technol., 1989, 5, 725–728.

20.

Cooper

K. P.

and Slebodnick

: J. Laser Appl., 1989, 1, 21–29.

21.

Kloosterman

A. B.

, Kool

B. J.

and Th

. M. De Hosson: Acta Mater., 1998, 46, 6205–6217.

22.

Kool

B. J.

, Kabel

, Kloosterman

A. B.

and Th

. M. De Hosson: Acta Mater., 1999, 47, 3105–3116.

23.

Pei

Y. T.

, Ocelik

and Th

. M. De Hosson: Acta Mater., 2002, 50, 2035–2051.

24.

, Xin

and Baker

T. N.

: Proc. 11th Int. Conf. on ‘Composite materials, metal matrix composite and physical properties’, (ed. Scott

M. L.

), Vol. 3, 80–89; 1997, Abington, Woodhead.

25.

Pan

, Man

H. C.

and Yue

T. M.

: Mater. Sci. Eng. A, 2005, A390, 144–153.

26.

Mridha

, Ubhi

H. S.

, Holdway

, Baker

T. N.

and Bowen

A. W.

: Proc. 7th Int. Conf. on ‘Titanium’, (ed. Froes

R. H.

and Caplan

), Vol. 3, 2641-2648; 1993, Warrendale, PA, TMS.

27.

Baker

T. N.

, Xin

, Hu

and Mridha

: Mater. Sci. Technol., 1994, 10,536–544. 1. ‘ASM handbook’, Vol. 18, 32; 1992, Metals Park, OH, ASM 32; 1992, Metals Park, OH, ASM

28.

Mridha

and Baker

T. N.

: J. Mater. Process. Technol., 1997, 63, 432–437.

29.

Selamat

M. S. B.

, Watson

L. M.

and Baker

T. N.

: J. Mater. Process. Technol., 2003, 142, 725–737.

30.

Abboud

J. H.

and West

D. R. F.

: J. Mater. Sci. Lett., 1990, 9, 308–310.

31.

Abboud

J. H.

and West

D. R. F.

: Mater. Sci. Technol., 1991, 7, 353–356.

32.

Abboud

J. H.

, Rawlings

and West

D. R. F.

: Mater. Sci Technol., 1994, 10, 414–419.

33.

Abboud

J. H.

, West

D. R. F.

and Rawlings

: Mater. Sci. Technol., 1994, 10, 848–853.

34.

Majumdar

J. D.

, Mordike

B. L.

and Manna

: Surf Coat. Technol., 2000, 242, 18–27.

35.

Mehlmann

, Dirfeld

S. F.

and Minkoff

: Surf Coat. Technol., 1990, 42, 275–281.

36.

Selvan

J. S.

, Subramanian

, Nath

A. K.

, Kumar

, Ramachandra

and Ravindranathan

S. P.

: Mater. Sci. Eng. A, 1999, A260, 178–187.

37.

Majumdar

J. D.

, Weisheit

B. L.

, Mordike

B. L.

and Manna

: Mater. Sci. Eng. A, 1999, A266, 123–134.

38.

Sun

R. L.

, Yang

D. Z.

, Guo

L. X.

and Dong

S. L.

: Surf Coat. Technol, 2001, 135, 307–312.

39.

Sun

R. L.

, Mao

J. F.

and Yang

D. Z.

: Surf Coat. Technol., 2002, 155, 203–207.

40.

Man

H. C.

, Zhang

, Cheng

F. T.

and Yue

T. M.

: Scr. Mater., 2001, 44, 2801–2807.

41.

Yilbas

B. S.

, Hashmi

M. S. J.

and Shuja

S. Z.

: Surf Coat. Technol., 2001, 140, 244–250.

42.

Banerjee

, GeN

, Collins

P. C.

and Fraser

H. L.

: Met. Mater. Trans., 2004, 35A, 2143–2152.

43.

Molian

P. A.

and Hualun

: Wear, 1989, 130, 337–352.

44.

Sun

R. L.

, Yang

D. Z.

, Guo

L. X.

and Dong

S. L.

: Surf Coat. Technol., 2000, 132, 251–255.

45.

Sun

R. L.

, Yang

D. Z.

, Guo

L. X.

and Dong

S. L.

: Surf Coat. Technol, 2002, 150, 199–204.

46.

Wang

H. M.

and Liu

Y. F.

: Mater. Sci. Eng. A, 2002, A338, 126–132.

47.

Wang

, Li

, Wang

, Xia

, Sandip

and Dong

: Surf Coat. Technol., 2000, 132, 251–255.

48.

Courant

, Hantzperque

J. J.

, Avril

and Benayoun

: J. Mater. Process. Technol., 2005, 160, 374–381.

49.

Tain

Y. S.

, Chen

C. Z.

, Chen

L. X.

and Huo

Q. H.

: Mater. Lett., 2006, 60, 109–113.

50.

Tain

Y. S.

, Chen

C. Z.

, Chen

L. X.

and Huo

Q. H.

: Scr. Mater., 2006, 54, 847–852.

51.

Covelli

, Pierdominici

, Smurov

and Tosto

: Surf Coat. Technol, 1996, 78, 196–204.

52.

Mridha

and Baker

T. N.

: Mater. Sci. Technol., 1996, 12, 595–602.

53.

, Selamat

M. S. B.

, Ubhi

H. S.

and Baker

T. N.

: Mater. Sci. Technol., 1998, 14, 1045–1052.

54.

Selemat

M. S.

, Watson

L. M.

and Baker

T. N.

: Surf Coat. Technol., 2006, 20, 724–736.

55.

Mridha

and Baker

T. N.

: J. Mater. Process. Technol., 2007, 185, 38–45.

56.

Morton

P. H.

, Bell

, Weisheit

, Kroll

and Mordike

B. L.

: ‘Surface Modification Technologies V’, (ed. Sudarshan

T. S.

and Braza

J. F.

), 593-609; 1992, London, Institute of Materials.

57.

Mridha

and Baker

T. N.

: Proc. Adv. Mater., 1994, 4, 85–94.

58.

Selamat

M. S.

, Baker

T. N.

and Watson

L. M.

: J. Mater. Process. Technol., 2001, 113, 509–515.

59.

Xin

, Watson

L. M.

and Baker

T. N.

: Acta Mater., 1998, 46, 1949–1961.

60.

and Baker

T. N.

: Mater. Sci. Eng. A, 1999, A265, 268–275.

61.

Xin

, Mridha

and Baker

T. N.

: J. Mater. Sci., 1996, 31,22–30.

62.

and Baker

T. N.

: J. Mater. Sci., 1997, 32, 2821-2826.

63.

Watkins

K. G.

, Liu

, McMahon

, Vilar

and Ferreira

M. G. S.

: Mater. Sci. Eng. A, 1998, A252, 292–300.

64.

Wang

X. Y.

, Liu

and Chong

P. H.

: Thin Solid. Films, 2004,453-454, 72–75.

65.

György

, Perez del Pino

, Serrs

and Morenza

J. L.

: Surf Coat. Technol, 2004, 187, 245–249.

66.

Xue

, Islam

, Koul

A. K.

, Bibby

and Wallace

: Adv. Perform. Mater., 1997, 4, 389–408.

67.

Drechsler

, Kiese

and Wagner

: Proc. 7th Int. Conf. on ‘Shot peening’, 145-152; 1999, Warsaw, Institute of Precision Mechanics.

68.

Ribeiro

M. V.

, Moreita

M. R. V.

and Ferreira

J. R.

: J. Mater. Process. Technol, 2003, 143-144, 458–463.

69.

Nalla

R. K.

, Altwnberger

, Noster

, Liu

G. Y.

, Scholtes

and Richie

R. O.

: Mater. Sci. Eng., 2003, 355, 216–230.

70.

Che-Haron

C. H.

: J. Mater. Process. Technol., 2001, 118, 231–237.

71.

Xin

and Baker

T. N.

: Proc. 8th World Conf. on ‘Titanium’, (ed. Blenkinsop

P. A.

et al), 2031-2038; 1995, London, Institute of Materials.

72.

Sproul

W. D.

, Rudick

P. J.

and Graham

M. E.

: Surf Coat. Technol., 1989, 39-40, 355–363.

73.

Perry

A. J.

, Sharkeev

Y. P.

, Geist

D. E.

and Fortuna

S. V.

: J. Vacumm Sci. Technol. A, 1999, 17A, 1848–1853.

74.

Munteanu

and Vaz

: J. Optoelect. Adv. Mater., 2006, 8, 720–725.

75.

Perry

A. J.

, Bull

S. J.

, Dommann

, Michler

, Wood

B. P.

, Rafaja

and Matossian

J. N.

: Surf Coat. Technol, 2000, 140, 99–108.

76.

Inoue

: Acta Mater., 2000, 48, 1234–1237.

77.

Martin

J. W.

: ‘Micromechanisms in particle hardened alloys'; 1980, Cambridge, Cambridge University.

78.

‘ASM handbook’, Vol. 3, 2-367; 1992, Metals Park, OH, ASM International.

79.

Morrell

: ‘Handbook of properties of technical and engineering ceramics’, Part 1, 134; 1985, London, HMSO.

80.

Vaza

, Ferreiraa

, Ribeiroa

, Reboutaa

, Lanceros-Méndeza

, Mendesa

J. A.

, Alves

, Goudeauc

Ph.

, Rivièrec

J. P.

Ribeirod

, Moutinhod

, Pischowe

and de Rijke

: Surf Coat. Technol., 2005, 191, 317–323.