| 摘要 |
<p>Surface and near surface hardened wear resistant tribological system articles of manufacture are provided. These tribological system articles are fabricated from titanium alloys that contain an amount of zirconium sufficient to permit the formation of a significant amount of zirconium oxide at the surface of the article to cause surface hardening and improved wear and abrasion resistance. Further, the zirconium-containing titanium alloy tribological articles are characterized in having an alloy substrate with an oxygen-rich layer surrounding the substrate, and a surface layer, overlying the oxygen-rich layer, including mixed oxides of the metals present in the alloy. A zirconium-rich interface may sometimes be present between the oxygen-rich layer and the mixed-oxide surface layer. The method of producing these surface hardened articles includes the steps of heating the article in an oxygen containing environment at a temperature sufficient to allow oxygen to diffuse to and react with the surface and near surface.</p> |
