Effects of Titanium-Implanted Dose on the Tribological Properties of 316L Stainless Steel

The effects of titanium (Ti) ion-implanted doses on the chemical composition, surface roughness, mechanical properties, as well as tribological properties of 316L austenitic stainless steel are investigated in this paper. The Ti ion implantations were carried out at an energy of 40 kV and at 2 mA for different doses of 3.0 × 10¹⁶, 1.0 × 10¹⁷, 1.0 × 10¹⁸, and 1.7 × 10¹⁸ ions/cm². The results showed that a new phase (Cr₂Ti) was detected, and the concentrations of Ti and C increased obviously when the dose exceeded 1.0 × 10¹⁷ ions/cm². The surface roughness can be significantly reduced after Ti ion implantation. The nano-hardness increased from 3.44 to 5.21 GPa at a Ti ion-implanted dose increase up to 1.0 × 10¹⁸ ions/cm². The friction coefficient decreased from 0.78 for un-implanted samples to 0.68 for a sample at the dose of 1.7 × 10¹⁸ ions/cm². The wear rate was slightly improved when the sample implanted Ti ion at a dose of 1.0 × 10¹⁸ ions/cm². Adhesive wear and oxidation wear are the main wear mechanisms, and a slightly abrasive wear is observed during sliding. Oxidation wear was improved significantly as the implantation dose increased.