Reactive Ion Implantation Process for Reducing Wear in Tool and Bearing Steels

摘要

The project was designed to test the feasibility of improving the wear life of tool steel by several recoil implantation techniques. A systematic study was made in which titanium nitrice and boron films of various thicknesses were evaporated onto M2 tool steel and recoil implanted with argon and nitrogen beams. The study involved characterization of the implants by Auger spectroscopy and sputter profiling, wear testing and electron microscopy of the wear tracks. Both titanium and boron were found to produce excellent results when recoil implanted with nitrogen ions under the correct conditions of film thickness and temperature, and the implants remained in the surface even after the material had been worn down to many times the original implant depth.