Changes in surface morphology of Ti6Al4V alloy and ZrO-YO ceramic coating modified by high-intensity pulsed ion beams

Abstract

The high-intensity pulsed ion beam (HIPIB) technique is developed to treat metallic and ceramic surfaces to improve materials performance. The processing is based on the beam-material interactions: remelting and/or ablation of a top layer on the irradiated surfaces (extreme surface heating effect); subsequently, the molten states may be frozen at an ultra-fast re-solidification rate after termination of the ion beam pulse. Surface smoothing and reconstruction of titanium alloys and ZrO₂-Y₂O₃ coatings have been observed as one of the typical outcome under high-intensity pulsed ion beam irradiation. It is demonstrated that the changes in surface morphology may significantly contribute to the improvements of overall performance of the materials.

Keywords

high-intensity pulsed ion beam (HIPIB), surface remelting, surface smoothing, titanium alloys, ceramic coatings