Improving tribological properties of Ti6Al4V alloy with duplex surface treatment

Ti-doped diamond like carbon films were deposited on both untreated and plasma nitrided Ti6Al4V alloy using Closed Field Unbalanced Magnetron Sputtering (CFUMBS) method and their tribological properties were evaluated by conducting sliding wear conditions. The influence of the nitrided layer on tribological behavior of Ti-DLC films was studied by means of XRD, SEM, scratch tester, microhardness tester and pin-on-disc tribotester. The microhardness results pointed out that the duplex treatment dramatically increased the surface hardness and reduced the plastic deformation of the alloy. Wear tests showed that Ti-DLC coatings on both untreated and nitrided surfaces caused a reduction in the coefficient of friction. The reason of the reduction in the coefficient of friction was found to be the formation of transfer film between the sliding surfaces. Wear rates demonstrated that wear resistance of duplex treated (Ti-DLC coating after nitriding) Ti6Al4V alloy was significantly improved.