The Comparison of Wear Performances of CP-Ti, Ti6Al4V, Ti45Nb Alloys Oxidized by Anodic Oxidation under Ambient Air and Vacuum Conditions

Commercially pure (CP-Ti) and alloyed titanium such as, Ti6Al4V and Ti45Nb have versatile use from aerospace to biomedical applications due to the low density, high specific strength, and corrosion resistance features. In addition to the impressive properties of Ti alloys, the sensitivity of wear is a cause for concern. Various surface treatments are employed to overcome this problem, and one of the most important one is the oxidation treatment. This was study mainly aimed to investigate the effects of anodic oxidation process on the structural, hardness and wear features of the CP-Ti, Ti6Al4V and Ti45Nb materials. The wear behavior of specimens was determined at 2 different constant loads (1 N and 2 N) under ambient air and vacuum environments. It was noted that the hardness of these materials improved with the oxidation, but this increase was striking in Ti45Nb (94%). Besides, it was observed that oxidized specimens show higher wear performance than untreated ones in both wear conditions. It has been revealed that the wear in the vacuum condition is more stable than in the ambient air. Meanwhile, the rutile phases were exhibited to be more resistant to frictional and mechanical effects during wear tests.