Tribocorrosion Study of Ordinary and Laser-Melted Ti6Al4V Alloy

Titanium alloys are used in biomedical implants, as well as in other applications, due to the excellent combination of corrosion resistance and mechanical properties. However, the tribocorrosion resistance of titanium alloy is normally not satisfactory. Therefore, surface modification is a way to improve this specific performance. In the present paper, laser surface-modified samples were tested in corrosion and pin-on-disk tribocorrosion testing in 0.90% NaCl under an average Hertzian pressure of 410 MPa against an alumina sphere. Laser-modified samples of Ti6Al4V were compared with ordinary Ti6Al4V alloy. Electrochemical impedance showed higher modulus for laser-treated samples than for ordinary Ti6Al4V ones. Moreover, atomic force microscopy revealed that laser-treated surfaces presented less wear than ordinary alloy for the initial exposure. For a further exposure to wear, i.e., when the wear depth is beyond the initial laser-affected layer, both materials showed similar corrosion behavior. Microstructure analysis and finite element method simulations revealed that the different behavior between the initial and the extensive rubbing was related to a fine martensite-rich external layer developed on the irradiated surface of the fusion zone