STUDY OF MECHANICAL AND PHYSICOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF POLYCRYSTALLINEALUMINA IMPLANTED WITH TITANIUM

A study of ion implantation in polycrystalline alumina has been undert aken aimed at two principal areas. Firstly the measurement of the evol ution of mechanical properties in the treated surface, suck as hardnes s and fracture toughness, was undertaken using a Vickers indentation m ethod. These properties ave very sensitive to the presence of residual stresses and to the surface microstructure. Secondly a physicochemica l study of the treated surface using XRD and SEM techniques in order t o identify the parameters that influence the mechanical changes was un dertaken.