INTEGRAL TITANIUM BORIDE COATINGS ON TITANIUM SURFACES AND ASSOCIATED METHODS

摘要

A borided titanium article can include a titanium mass having titanium monoboride whiskers infiltrating inward from a surface of the titanium mass to form an integral surface hardened region. The titanium mass can be almost any titanium based metal or alloy such as high purity titanium, commercial grade titanium, a-titanium alloy, alpha+beta titanium alloy, beta-titanium alloy, titanium composite, and combinations thereof. Borided titanium articles can be formed by methods which include providing a titanium mass, contacting a surface of the titanium mass with a boron source medium, and heating the titanium mass and boron source medium to a temperature from about 700 °C to about 1600 °C. The boron source medium can include a boron source and an activator selected to provide growth of titanium monoboride whiskers. The boron source medium can be provided as a solid particulate mixture, liquid mixture, or as a gaseous mixture. During heating, boron from the boron source infiltrates into the titanium mass and forms titanium monoboride whiskers which improve the surface hardness, wear resistance, oxidation resistance, and corrosion resistance of the treated surface. The titanium monoboride whiskers can be controlled to have the desired dimensions, depending on the application requirements. Boriding titanium surfaces using these methods, provides a relatively inexpensive and effective process for improving the surface properties of titanium which are then useful in a wide variety of applications.