Structure of the near-surface layer of NiTi on the meso- and microscale levels after ion-beam surface treatment

Using the EBSD, SEM and TEM methods, the structure of surface layer of polycrystalline NiTi alloy samples was examined after the modification of material surface by the pulsed action of mean-energy silicon ion beam. It was found that the ion beam treatment would cause grain fragmentation of the near-surface layer to a depth 5-50 [mu]m; a higher extent of fragmentation was observed in grains whose close-packed planes were oriented approximately in the same direction as the ion beam was. The effect of high-intensity ion beam treatment on the anisotropic behavior of polycrystalline NiTi alloy and the mechanisms involved were also examined

Structure and Multistage Martensite Transformation in Nanocrystalline Ti-50.9Ni Alloy

An electron microscopic study of the evolution of the size, morphology, and spatial distribution of coherent Ti3Ni4 particles with a change in the aging temperature in a nanocrystalline (NC) Ti-50.9 at % Ni alloy with an inhomogeneous grain–subgrain B2-austenitic nanostructure has been carried out. It was found that with an increase in the aging temperature, along with a change in the size and shape of Ti3Ni4 nanoparticles, their spatial distribution changes from location at dislocations to precipitates at subboundaries. Research has shown that the presence of different types of internal interfaces in the nanostructure contributes to the heterogeneous distribution of coherent Ti3Ni4 nanoparticles in the volume of the B2 matrix, which is associated with the precipitation of particles in the region of low-angle subboundaries and the suppression of the Ti3Ni4 precipitation in nanograins with high-angle boundaries. The difference in the structural-phase state of nanograins and subgrains regions is the main reason for the implementation of the anomalous R-phase transformation effect in the sequence of multistage martensitic transformations B2↔R↔B19′

Microstructural characterization of Ti-Ta-based surface alloy fabricated on TiNi SMA by additive pulsed electron-beam melting of film/substrate system

TiNi shape memory alloys (SMAs) are unique metallic biomaterials due to the combination of superelasticity and high corrosion resistance. Important limitations for biomedical applications of TiNi SMAs are the release of toxic Ni into adjacent tissues, as well as insufficient level of X-ray visibility. These limitations can be overcome by fabrication of a Ti-Ta-based surface alloy on the TiNi substrate, since Ti-Ta alloys being high-temperature SMAs are attractive biomaterials with potentially good mechanical compatibility with TiNi substrate. In the present work, this approach is realized for the first time through the multiple (N = 20) alternation of magnetron co-deposition of Ti70Ta30 (at.%) thin films and their liquid-phase mixing with TiNi substrate by microsecond low-energy, high current electron beam (∼2 μs, ∼15 keV, ∼2 J/cm2). Surface SEM/EDS, AES, XRD and cross-sectional HRTEM/EDS/SAED analyses were used for microstructural characterization of studied material. It was found that ∼1 μm-thick Ti-Ta-based surface alloy with a composition close to that of co-deposited films has been formed, and it consists of several sublayers with a depth-graded amorphous-nanocrystalline structure. Nanocrystalline sublayers consist essentially of randomly oriented grains of α″(Ti-Ta)-martensite and β(Ti-Ta)-austenite (bcc-disordered). Beneath the surface alloy, ∼1 μm-thick intermediate zone has been formed. It has also a multilayer predominantly randomly oriented nanocrystalline structure and characterized by a monotonous depth replacement of Ta with Ni and a diffusion transition to TiNi substrate. The depth-graded structure of studied material is associated with the features of additive thin-film deposition/pulsed melting manufacturing process

Microstructural characterization of Ti-Ta-based surface alloy fabricated on TiNi SMA by additive pulsed electron-beam melting of film/substrate system

TiNi shape memory alloys (SMAs) are unique metallic biomaterials due to the combination of superelasticity and high corrosion resistance. Important limitations for biomedical applications of TiNi SMAs are the release of toxic Ni into adjacent tissues, as well as insufficient level of X-ray visibility. These limitations can be overcome by fabrication of a Ti-Ta-based surface alloy on the TiNi substrate, since Ti-Ta alloys being high-temperature SMAs are attractive biomaterials with potentially good mechanical compatibility with TiNi substrate. In the present work, this approach is realized for the first time through the multiple (N = 20) alternation of magnetron co-deposition of Ti70Ta30 (at.%) thin films and their liquid-phase mixing with TiNi substrate by microsecond low-energy, high current electron beam (∼2 μs, ∼15 keV, ∼2 J/cm2). Surface SEM/EDS, AES, XRD and cross-sectional HRTEM/EDS/SAED analyses were used for microstructural characterization of studied material. It was found that ∼1 μm-thick Ti-Ta-based surface alloy with a composition close to that of co-deposited films has been formed, and it consists of several sublayers with a depth-graded amorphous-nanocrystalline structure. Nanocrystalline sublayers consist essentially of randomly oriented grains of α″(Ti-Ta)-martensite and β(Ti-Ta)-austenite (bcc-disordered). Beneath the surface alloy, ∼1 μm-thick intermediate zone has been formed. It has also a multilayer predominantly randomly oriented nanocrystalline structure and characterized by a monotonous depth replacement of Ta with Ni and a diffusion transition to TiNi substrate. The depth-graded structure of studied material is associated with the features of additive thin-film deposition/pulsed melting manufacturing process