Friction and wear behavior of Ti following laser surface alloying with Si,Al and Si plus Al

This study concerns the friction and wear behavior of Ti following laser su rface alloying (LSA) with Si, Al or Si + Al. The said tribological characte ristics of the laser-alloyed samples, subjected to the earlier determined o ptimum conditions of LSA, were investigated in terms of the variation of we ar depth as a function of load and time using a computer-controlled recipro cating ball-on-disc wear testing machine fitted with an oscillating hardene d steel ball. A detailed post wear microstructural analysis was conducted t o determine the mechanism of wear and role of alloying elements in improvin g the resistance to wear. It appears that LSA with Si is more effective in improving the wear resistance of Ti than that by Si + Al or Al alone. The e nhanced wear resistance in Si surface alloyed samples has been attributed t o the presence of uniformly distributed Ti,Si, in the alloyed zone (AZ). (C ) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.