aDepartment of Materials Engineering, Tatung Institute of Technology, Taipei 10451, Taiwan, ROC
bInstitute of Marine Materials Engineering, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung 20224, Taiwan, ROC
Abstract:
Surface hardening of Ti-6Al-4V alloy was achieved by carburization in a molten salt bath containing BaCO3 as the carbon-yielding agent with electrolysis within the temperature range 790–930°C. The hardness of the total carburizing layer (TCD) is influenced by the bath temperature, the applied current density and the carburizing period. The major hardening effect is considered to be the formation of a solid solution of carbon in -Ti. The oxide film wrapping at the outermost surface of cathodically charged specimens, identified to be mainly BaTiO3, was formed irrespective of the bath temperature during the quenching process and has no effect on the surface hardening. The optimal carburizing parameters obtained in this study for surface hardening are carburizing at 930±10°C (bath temperature) and 0.3 A/Cm2 (applied current density) for 90 min (carburizing period), while those for tribological properties improvement are carburizing at 860±5°C and 0.3 A/Cm2 for 90 min.