The amorphous phase and surface mechanical properties of 304 stainless steel implanted with Ti and C

Abstract

The wear tracks resulting from unlubricated pin-on-disc tests of 304 stainless steel which was ion implanted with Ti and C have been examined with transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy. At light pin loads, where the maximum wear depths were reduced by the implantation from ∼1.5 to ∼0.15 μm, nearly continuous amorphous layers containing Ti were found to exist across the wear tracks. However, the amorphous phase was not observed in deeper wear tracks (≳1 μm) produced by higher loads. This correlation of the presence of the amorphous layer with reduced wear demonstrates that this layer is responsible for the reduction in wear produced by implantation of Ti and C.