Nitriding plasma effect on Ti-6Al-4V fatigue behavior

The Ti-6Al-4V alloy presents excellent mechanical properties, low density, high toughness and corrosion resistance. However, surface treatments like plasma nitriding are widely used to improve the fatigue resistance of this alloy. Therefore, the aim of this work was to treat thermochemically Ti-6Al-4V alloy by means of plasma nitriding to verify its influence in fatigue properties and compare the results with the untreated ones. This surface treatment was performed with the purpose of retards the crack initiation. The plasma nitriding was performed in temperatures around 720°C for 4 hours, with a gas atmosphere N₂, Ar and H₂ (5:5:1). A heat treatment was made in the samples to obtain a Widmanstätten microstructure. The temperature used was 1050°C for 30 minutes. Microstructural characterizations of nitrided and non-nitrided samples were carried out using X-ray diffraction (XRD), optical microscopy (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The XRD results of the nitrided sample showed the presence of the α, β, ε- Ti2N, and δ-TiN phases. These analyses revealed a surface layer rich in nitrides on the surface, followed by a diffusion layer of nitrogen in the matrix. The surface roughness was compared between the nitrided and non-nitrided layer, and it was observed that the roughness increased 61% after the plasma nitriding. Fatigue tests were performed in a rotating bending testing machine with a stress ratio (R=- 1). The results obtained in fatigue tests showed that the fatigue properties were improved after plasma nitriding, retarding the crack initiation. (author)