Effects of nitrogen flux on microstructure and tribological properties of in-situ TiN coatings deposited on TC11 titanium alloy by electrospark deposition

In order to improve the tribological properties of titanium alloys,the in-situ TiN coatings were prepared by electrospark deposition（ESD） on the surface of TC11 titanium alloy.The effects of nitrogen flux on the microstructure and tribological properties of TiN coatings were investigated.The results show that the coating is relative thin when the nitrogen flux is small and mainly consists of Ti2N,α-Ti,Ti O and TiN phases,and the metastable phase of Ti2N is developed due to the rapid solidification of ESD.While in excessive nitrogen flux condition,many micro-cracks and holes might be generated in the coating.In moderate nitrogen flux,the coating is mainly composed of TiN phase,and is dense and uniform（50-55 μm）.The average hardness is HV0.2 1165.2,which is 3.4 times that of the TC11 substrate.The TiN coatings prepared in moderate nitrogen flux perform the best wear resistance.The wear loss of the coating is 0.4 mg,which is 2/9 that of the TC11 substrate.The main wear mechanisms of the coatings are micro-cutting wear accompanied by multi-plastic deformation wear.

Microstructure evolution of laser deposited Ti60A titanium alloy during cyclic thermal exposure

Cyclic thermal exposure tests of infrared heating to 800 ℃ in 120 s followed by compressed air cooling to 150 ℃ in 60 s were performed for the laser deposited Ti60A （Ti5.54Al3.38Sn3.34Zr0.37Mo0.46Si） alloy. The effects of thermal exposure cycles on length ofβphase, area fraction ofαphase and microhardness of alloy were examined by OM, SEM and EDS. The results indicate that thermal exposure cycles have significant effects on length ofβphase, area fraction ofαphase and microhardness of the alloy. The original fine basket-weaveβand 78.5%αtransform to transient wedge-likeβ, finally leaving granularβand 97.6%coarsenedαwith the increased thermal exposure cycles. The formation mechanism of coarsenedαand broken-upβmicrostructure is discussed. The alloy after 750 thermal exposure cycles has the maximum microhardness, 33.3%higher than that of the as-deposited alloy.

Microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of laser melting deposited Ti-6.5Al-3.5Mo-1.5Zr-0.3Si titanium alloy

A rectangular plate of Ti-6.5A1-3.5Mo-I.5Zr-0.3Si titanium alloy was fabricated by laser melting deposition （LMD） technology. Macrostructure and microstructure were characterized by optical microscope （OM） and scanning electron microscope （SEM）. Room temperature tensile properties were evaluated. Results indicate that the macro-morphology is dominated by large columnar grains traversing multiple deposited layers. Two kinds of bands, named the wide bands and the narrow bands, are observed. The wide band consists of crab-like a lath and Widmanstatten a colony. The narrow band consists of a lath and transformed ft. The formation mechanism of the two bands was explored. The influence of heat effect caused by subsequent deposition layers on microstructural evolution during deposition process was discussed. The room temperature tensile test demonstrates that the strength of laser deposited Ti-6.5A1-3.5Mo-I.5Zr-0.3Si is comparable to that of wrought bars.

Low cycle fatigue behavior of laser melting deposited TC18 titanium alloy

Low cycle fatigue （LCF） behavior of laser melting deposited （LMD） TC18 titanium alloy was studied at room temperature. Microstructure consisting of fine lamella-like primary α phase and transformed β matrix was obtained by double annealed treatment, and inhomogeneous grain boundaryαphase was detected. Fatigue fracture surfaces and longitudinal sections of LCF specimens were examined by optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Results indicate that more than one crack initiation site can be detected on the LCF fracture surface. The fracture morphology of the secondary crack initiation site is different from that of the primary crack initiation site. When the crack grows along the grain boundaryαphase, continuous grain boundaryαphase leads to a straight propagating manner while discontinuous grain boundaryαphase gives rise to flexural propagating mode.

High-cycle fatigue crack initiation and propagation in laser melting deposited TC18 titanium alloy

This article examines fatigue crack nucleation and propagation in laser deposited TC18 titanium alloy. The Widmanstatten structure was obtained by double-annealing treatment,. High-cycle fatigue （HCF） tests were conducted at room temperature with the stress ratio of 0.1 and the notch concentration factor Kt = 1. Fatigue cracks initiated preferentially at micropores, which had great effect on the HCF properties. The effect decreased with the decrease of pore size and the increase of distance from the pore location to the specimen surface. The crack initiation region was characterized by the cleavage facets of a lamella and the tearing of β matrix. The soft a precipitated-free zone formed along grain boundaries accelerated the crack propagation. Subsurface observation indicated that the crack preferred to propagate along the grain boundary α or border of a lamella or vertical to a lamella.

Fabrication of TiN/cBN and TiC/diamond coated particles by titanium deposition process

Cubic boron nitride particles coated by titanium nitride (TiN/cBN) as well as diamond particles coated by titanium carbide (TiC/diamond) were prepared by Ti molten salt deposition followed by heat-treatment process. cBN or diamond particles were mixed separately with Ti powders and molten salts (KCl, NaCl and K2TiF6). The mixture was heated at 900 °C under argon atmosphere. The produced particles were heat-treated under hydrogen at 1000 °C. The morphologies and chemical compositions of the produced particles were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and focused ion beam (FIB). The results show that the cBN and the diamond particles are coated by nano-sized Ti layers. By heat-treatment of the Ti/cBN and TiC/diamond coated particles under hydrogen atmosphere, the deposited Ti layers were interacted by the in-situ transformation reaction with the surfaces of cBN and diamond particles and converted to titanium compounds (TiN and TiC), respectively.

Effect of frequency and pulse-on time of high power impulse magnetron sputtering on deposition rate and morphology of titanium nitride using response surface methodology

Titanium nitride thin films were deposited on silicon by high power impulse magnetron sputtering(HiPIMS)method at different frequencies(162-637 Hz)and pulse-on time(60-322μs).Response surface methodology(RSM)was employed to study the simultaneous effect of frequency and pulse-on time on the current waveforms and the crystallographic orientation,microstructure,and in particular,the deposition rate of titanium nitride at constant time and average power equal to 250 W.The crystallographic structure and morphology of deposited films were analyzed using XRD and FESEM,respectively.It is found that the deposition rate of HiPIMS samples is tremendously dependent on pulse-on time and frequency of pulses where the deposition rate changes from 4.5 to 14.5 nm/min.The regression equations and analyses of variance(ANOVA)reveal that the maximum deposition rate(equal to(17±0.8)nm/min)occurs when the frequency is 537 Hz and pulse-on time is 212μs.The experimental measurement of the deposition rate under this condition gives rise to the deposition rate of 16.7 nm/min that is in good agreement with the predicted value.

Fabrication of anatase titanium dioxide nanotubes by electroless deposition using polycarbonate for separate casting method

Titanium dioxide nanotubes(TNTs)were prepared by electroless deposition using ion track etched polycarbonate templates.The ion tracks were prepared to the desired diameter of the TNTs outer diameter.Titanium dioxide nanotubes with a diameter of minimum 80 nm having a wall thickness of minimum 10 nm can be fabricated using this method.To achieve nanotubes with thin walls and small surface roughness the tubes were generated by a several steps procedure under aqueous conditions at nearly room temperature.The presented approach will process open end nanotubes with well defined outer diameter and wall thickness.Using this method TNT arrays up to 109 tubes per cm2having a tube length up to 30μm can be produced,single tubes are also possible.The structural properties of the grown TNTs were investigated by using various analytical techniques,i.e.scanning electron microscopy(SEM),energy dispersive X-ray fluoresence spectrometer(EDX),X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS),X-ray diffraction(XRD),Raman spectroscopy and Photoluminescence.

Applied Mineralogical Studies on Iranian Titanium Deposits

Qara-aghaj and Skandian as hard rock titanium deposit and Kahnooj one as a placer deposit were investigated from applied mineralogical point of view. The mineralogical studies were carried out using XRD, XRF, optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and microprobe analysis. These studies indicated that ilmenite and magnetite are main valuable minerals in the studied ores. Pyroxene, olivine and plagioclase are the main gangue minerals in Qara-aghaj ore while chlorite and plagioclase are the major gangue minerals in Skandian ore. Plagioclase, clinopyroxene, amphibole, feldspate and some quartz are the important gangue minerals in kahnooj deposit. In all three ores ilmenite is mainly in the form of ilmenite grains but some lamellae of ilmenite with thickness between 0.1 to 20 μm have been occurred as exsolution textures inside magnetite grains, where the magnetite here can be referred to as ilmenomagnetite. In the hard rock ores some fine ilmenites have been disseminated in silicate minerals. The liberation degree of granular ilmenite was determined 150, 140 and 200 μm for Qara-aghaj, Skandian and Kahnooj, respectively. So, only the granular form of ilmenite is recoverable by physical methods. Some sphene and rutile as titanium containing minerals were observed mainly inside ilmenite phase in kahnooj ore. Some fine rutile was also found inside Skandian ilmenite while there were not any other titanium minerals inside Qara-aghaj ilmenite. Apatite is another valuable mineral which was found only in Qara-aghaj ore. Using SEM and microprobe analysis it was found that there are different amounts of exsolved fine lamellae of hematite inside ilmenite in Qara-aghaj and Kahnooj ores while it was not observed in Sckandian one. The average contents of TiO2 in the lattice of Qara-aghaj, Skandian and Kahnooj ilmenite were determined 51.13, 50.9% and 52.02%, respectively. FeO content of ilmenite lattice for all three samples is clearly lower than the theoretical content. This is due to the substitution of Mg and Mn for some Fe2+ ions in the ilmenite lattice. V2O3 content of magnetite lattice is up to 1%. So, magnetite can be a suitable source for production of vanadium as a by-product in all three deposits.

Research on depositing Ni45 alloy on titanium alloy surface by electrospark deposition

Taking Ni45 bar as electrode,a strengthened layer of thickness up to 50μm was built up on BT20 titanium alloy matrix by means of electrospark deposition.Results of phase analysis by using of X-ray diffraction confirmed that the deposition layer was composed mostly of three phases,NiTi,NiTi2 and Ti.The surface microhardness of the deposition layer was up to 910 HV0.05,about 2.7 times as high as that of the matrix.The hardness at the cross-section of the entire deposition layer showed a gradient distribution.The effects of capacitance and deposition time on thickness of deposition layer were also studied,and results showed that with relatively low capacity and short deposition time the deposition layer without cracks can be obtained.

Synthesis and Characterization of Metal Organic Chemical Vapour Deposited Copper Titanium Oxide (Cu-Ti-O) Thin Films from Single Solid Source Precursor

Thin films of copper titanium oxide were deposited by metal organic chemical vapour deposition technique from the synthesized single solid source precursor, copper titanium acetylacatonate Cu [Ti(C5H7O2)3] at the deposition temperature of 420°C. The deposited films were characterized using Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy Dispersive X-Ray facility attached to it, X-Ray Diffractometry, UV-Visible Spectrometry and van-der Pauw Conductivity measurement. Results show that the thickness of the prepared film is determined as 101.236 nm and the film is amorphous in structure, having average grain size of approximately 1 μm. The optical behaviour showed that the absorption edge of the film was at 918 nm near infrared with corresponding direct energy band gap of 1.35 eV. The electrical characterization of the film gave the values of resistivity, sheet resistance and conductivity of the film as 3.43 × 10-1 Ω-cm, 3.39 × 106 Ω/square and 2.91 (Ω-cm)-1 respectively.

Study of preparation of BG/HA gradient coating on titanium alloy by electrophoretic deposition method

In this paper, a gradient bioactive coating made from modified bioglass(BG) and hydroxyapatite(HA) was prepared by electrophoretic deposition method(EPD)on the surface of titanium alloy. Strong bonding between the matrix and BG/HA gradient coating was got by sintering. Crystal composition of the coating was analyzed by XRD. The characteristics of surface and cross section of the coating were observed by SEM. Adhesive strength of the coating was tested by pull method. The optimizing technological parameters were determined.

TiB_2/Ni coatings on surface of copper alloy electrode prepared by electrospark deposition

In order to improve the lifespan of spot-welding electrodes used for welding zinc coated steel sheets, titanium diboride was deposited onto their surface after precoating nickel as an intermediate layer. The microstructures and phase compositions of TiB2 and Ni coatings were characterized by SEM and XRD. The coating hardness was measured using a microhardness tester. The results indicate that a satisfactory TiB2 coating is obtained as a result of the intermediate nickel layer acting as a good binder between the TiB2 coating and the copper alloy substrate. Owing to its capacity of deforming, the precoated nickel layer is dense and crack free, while cracks and pores are observed in the TiB2 coating. The hardness of the TiB2/Ni coating decreases with the increase of voltage and capacitance because of the diffusion of copper and nickel and the oxidation of the coating materials. Because of the good thermal and electrical conductivities and high hardness properties of TiB2, the deformation of the electrode with TiB2/Ni coating is reduced and its spot-welding life is by far prolonged than that of the uncoated one.

Fabrication of titanium oxide films at low temperature from aqueous solution

Titanium oxide thin films were prepared on self-assembled monolayers-coated silicon substrate using layer-by-layer self-assembly method and chemical bath deposition from an aqueous solution. The effects of temperature on structural properties, thickness and morphologies of titanium oxide thin films were investigated. The results show that the absorption peak of peroxo complexes of titanium at 410 nm decreases gradually with increasing the temperature. The deposited films consisting of titanium oxide nanocrystals are believed to be fully amorphous by XRD. Titanium oxide thin films fabricated at 60 °C for 2 h are continuous, dense and homogeneous with a size in the range of 20-40 nm by SEM. The chemical compositions of deposited thin films were studied by EDS, and the mole ratio of O to Ti is 2.2：1.

3DPMD-Arc-based additive manufacturing with titanium powder as raw material

The study aims to demonstrate the suitability of the 3DPMD for the production of titanium components with and without reinforcing particles in layer-by-layer design. Various demonstrators are prepared and analyzed. The microstructure, the porosity and the hardness values of the different structures are compared with each other through metallographic cross-sections. The uniform distribution of the carbides and the interaction with the matrix was analyzed by SEM and EDX.The miller-test method(ASTM G75-07) was used to determine data for the relative abrasivity of the structures. In summary, 3DPMD offers the possibility to produce titanium structures with and without reinforced particles. Using automated routines, it is possible to generate metal structures using welding robots directly from the CAD drawings. Microstructures and properties are directly related to the process and therefore material-process-property relationships are discussed within this work.

Mixed Phase Anatase/rutile Titanium Dioxide Nanotubes for Enhanced Photocatalytic Degradation of Methylene-blue

Titanium dioxide Nanotubes(TNTs) prepared by electroless deposition have been annealed at air ambient and low temperature. As a result, the anatase/rutile phase composition of the TNTs can be tailored to the needs of later applications. Nanotubes with anatase/rutile mixed phase ratio of 4:1 have been produced in this report and further examined for their photocatalytical behavior. The photocatalytical properties of the TNTs have been observed by degradation of methylene-blue in aqueous solution under low power UV-light irradiation. The results shown in this report are based on the synergetic effect between rutile and anatase,which results in the mixed phase TiO 2 nanotubes having enhanced photocatalytical properties.

PHASE TRANSFORMATION BEHAVIOR IN THE SPUTTER DEPOSITED Ti-Pd-Ni THIN FILMS

Ti-Pd-Ni thin films were prepared by sputter deposition at room temperature. The as-deposited thin films were crystallized at 750°C followed by various cooling conditions, and the structural change emerging in the films was characterized by means of both X-ray diffraction (XRD) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). It was found that the phase transformation temperatures of Ti50.6Pd30Ni19.4 ingot we much higher than those of its thin film. The B19' and B19 phases coexisted, together with the Ti2Ni type and Ti2Pd type of precipitates at the room temperature. Both the B19-B2 one-stage and the B19'-B19-B2 two-stage phase transformations took place when the films experienced thermal change across the region of phase transformation temperatures.

Effect of deposition rate on microstructure and mechanical properties of wire arc additive manufacturing of Ti-6Al-4V components

Wire arc additive manufacturing(WAAM)is a novel manufacturing technique by which high strength metal components can be fabricated layer by layer using an electric arc as the heat source and metal wire as feedstock,and offers the potential to produce large dimensional structures at much higher build rate and minimum waste of raw material.In the present work,a cold metal transfer(CMT)based additive manufacturing was carried out and the effect of deposition rate on the microstructure and mechanical properties of WAAM Ti-6Al-4V components was investigated.The microstructure of WAAM components showed similar microstructural morphology in all deposition conditions.When the deposition rate increased from 1.63 to 2.23 kg/h,the ultimate tensile strength(UTS)decreased from 984.6 MPa to 899.2 MPa and the micro-hardness showed a scattered but clear decline trend.

Preparation of Ti6Al4V/BG/HA graded coating by electrophoresis deposition in absolute alcohol medium

A codeposition of bioglass (BG) and hydroxyapatite (HA) on the substrate Ti6Al4V is realized in a nonaqueous solution system by inducing crystallization of HA on surface of the BG grain and electrophoresis deposition (EPD), and then a bioactive graded ceramic coating was obtained after sintering of the coating. This technique is a new method for making bioactive graded coating. The adhesive strength between the coating and the substrate reaches 18?MPa, and the better electrophoresis depositing parameters and optimal sintering procedure are obtained.

Advances in additively manufactured titanium alloys by powder bed fusion and directed energy deposition:Microstructure,defects,and mechanical behavior

Ti and its alloys have been broadly adopted across various industries owing to their outstanding proper-ties,such as high strength-to-weight ratio,excellent fatigue performance,exceptional corrosion resistance and so on.Additive manufacturing(AM)is a complement to,rather than a replacement for,traditional manufacturing processes.It enhances flexibility in fabricating complex components and resolves machin-ing challenges,resulting in reduced lead times for custom designs.However,owing to distinctions among various AM technologies,Ti alloys fabricated by different AM methods usually present differences in mi-crostructure and defects,which can significantly influence the mechanical performance of built parts.Therefore,having an in-depth knowledge of the scientific aspects of fabrication and material properties is crucial to achieving high-performance Ti alloys through different AM methods.This article reviews the mechanical properties of Ti alloys fabricated by two mainstream powder-type AM techniques:powder bed fusion(PBF)and directed energy deposition(DED).The review examines several key aspects,en-compassing phase formation,grain size and morphology,and defects,and provides an in-depth analysis of their influence on the mechanical behaviors of Ti alloys.This review can aid researchers and engi-neers in selecting appropriate PBF or DED methods and optimizing their process parameters to fabricate high-performance Ti alloys for a wide range of industrial applications.