The effect of plasma electrolytic polishing on the surface properties of titanium alloy after plasma electrolytic chemical-thermal treatment

Abstract A change in the surface morphology of a titanium alloy under the influence of its erosion as well as dissolution and oxidizing for cathodic or anodic carburizing was studied. An electronic microscope was applied to investigation of surface morphology and cross-section of modified specimens. The roughness of samples surface and their microhardness were measured. It was found that the decrease in the samples weight after cathodic or anodic carburizing was comparable. The surface roughness after cathodic carburizing increases more than after anodic one, but it can be reduced by 1.5 times by plasma electrolytic polishing.