INCREASING HARDNESS AND CORROSION RESISTANCE OF COMMERCIALLY PURE TITANIUM BY USING PLASMA NITROCARBURIZING PROCESS

Titanium tends to form nitrides and carbides. The plasma nitrocarburizing technique can generate these nitride and carbide compounds on the material's surface. The objective of this research is to use a plasma nitrocarburizing process to increase the hardness and corrosion resistance of commercially pure titanium. The generation of a thin layer with an average thickness of 1.88 μm was discovered using a Scanning Electron Microscope. The X-Ray Diffraction technique identifies this thin layer made of TiN and TiC compounds. The untreated commercially pure titanium hardness was 105.75 VHN, and the plasma nitrocarburized commercially pure titanium hardness was 312.68 VHN, according to the Vickers micro tester. After plasma nitrocarburizing, the corrosion rate of untreated commercially pure titanium decreased from 0.0061 mmpy to 0.00077 mmpy. The plasma nitrocarburizing process resulted in a 196 percent increase in hardness and an 87 percent reduction in corrosion rate.