Nitrogen contribution to tribological behaviour improvement of titanium alloys

Titanium an titanium alloys are more used materials in mechanical applications. A low density and very interesting mechanical characteristics present these materials as a first choice in many fields (aeronautics, automobile precision mechanics, biomedical...). Nevertheless, their poor tribological qualities often negate them as a friction surface. Modifying their surface properties is thus a real concern. The introduction of nitrogen on the surface enables a significant improvement to the tribological behaviour of these materials. Nitrogen ionic implantation is a technique used in titanium alloy surface treatment. Industrial applications of this process are numerous (biomedical, aeronautics...) but the limitations its (essentially treatment depth) prevent its use in certain cases. The increase in treatment temperature can overcome these limitations. Thus, the analysis of the properties obtained after treatment at various temperatures (20 deg. C) enables us to find the best compromise between metallurgic, geometrical properties (surface condition, deformation) and friction properties. This compromise enables us to solve a majority of tribological problems of titanium alloys. (authors). 7 refs., 10 figs., 2 tabs., 1 photo