EFFECT OF BORONIZING ON WEAR RESISTANCE OF THE Ti-6Al-4V ALLOY

Titanium alloys have an excellent combination of mechanical properties, low density and good corrosion resistance. Considering the global production of titanium, about 50% are used for the production of the Ti-6Al-4V alloy, which has applications in aerospace, automotive, power generation, chemical, marine, biomedical and sports. However, a limitation to their wider use in engineering applications is its low tribological performance. This study aimed to produce, characterize and analyze the wear resistance of Ti-6Al-4V borided samples. The boriding treatment was performed at 850 and 900 °C for 2 and 4 hours. The samples were characterized by optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Vickers hardness. The wear resistances were evaluated using the fixed ball microadhesive test. The boride layers obtained consisted of TiB and TiB₂, with a hardness close to 2000 HV. The boride samples showed resistance to wear far superior to that of Ti-6Al-4V substrate.